Mass Effect: Normandy
by Darthvader1002
Summary: A prequel to Mass Effect 3: A Decade later and Mass Effect: The Second Shepard. Shepard and Talis love life during the events of the Mass Effect trilogy. All characters and locations are property of Bioware. Spoilers of all the Mass Effects are present. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Normandy SR-1

Shepard walked out of the airlock, he looked to his left, Joker was sitting in the pilot's chair, and he had turned and looked at Shepard with kind yet sad eyes. Shepard walked through the CIC; everyone turned and watched as he slowly made his way to the crew deck. Shepard put his armour into his storage locker. He had lost his best friend, Kaiden an hour before.

"Shepard?" the voice was familiar. Shepard turned around, the young Quarian he had recruited a few weeks earlier was looking up at him, and through her visor he could see her eyes. They looked at him kindly.

"Hi, Tali" he said. He wanted to say more but found no words. Everything about her made him trip over himself. He went to Kaiden a few days earlier; he made fun of Shepard saying that it was love. Shepard dismissed his friends claim, how could he be in love with her?

"You need something?" Shepard finally managed to blurt out. He needed something to take his mind off of his loss.

"Are you ok? I know you and Kaiden were close" she said somewhat shyly.

"I'll be…" Shepard swallowed a lump "fine" he kept staring into her eyes almost lovingly and then glancing somewhere else. He didn't want to appear creepy.

"I know what it's like losing a friend, before I went to the Citadel I was on Illium, I hoped to find an information broker that I could sell that Geth recording to. My friend and I were jumped by Sarens agents, my friend, Kon'Align" Tali swallowed a lump in her throat "He took some fire, polonium rounds". He died in minutes" Tali voice broke.

Shepard had to resist stepping forward and holding her. He wanted to hold her close and let her know that everything was going to be alright. _Dammit what's wrong with me? _He thought.

Tali pulled herself together, she wasn't going to cry in front of her Commander, in front of Shepard. It didn't matter that he wouldn't be able to see through her damned helmet. She thought that if she cried he would throw her off the ship for being too emotional and would compromise the mission. She wanted to be by his side, only there did she feel truly safe.

She continued her story, "I had to leave him. I stowed away aboard a Turian freighter and when I got to the Citadel I finally managed to relax. That's when Sarens agents ambushed me, I don't know how they found me but I took a shot in the arm. Polonium rounds again, I was running a fever in minutes, I ran away and when I was safe again I went to a clinic where the doctor there managed to set me up with Fist. Fist promised me that he would get the recording to the Shadow Broker. But I was set up; I was ambushed in the alley near Choras den. That's when you found me" she said, the last sentence left her lips almost dreamily.

Shepard looked at her and nodded slowly. Tali bit her lip; a small smile was played on his lips, his dark blue eyes connecting with hers. She took a small step forward and was relieved that he didn't step back, the way he looked at her and _Keelah _those eyes. Her stomach began to feel strange, she glanced at his chest, his well-defined muscles were easily visible.

Her trance was interrupted by the comm coming online "Commander I have Admiral Hackett in the comm, he wants to speak with you" Joker, the pilot said.

"I'll be there in a minute" Shepard said, he looked back at Tali "I should go" he said awkwardly.

"Oh… yea… well if you ever want to talk you know where I am" Tali said as she turned towards the elevator.

Shepard watched as she quickly walked away, _why can't I just talk to her without being so damn weird? _He thought_ I can talk fine to every other damn woman on the ship._ Something about her made him feel so warm inside; no one else had ever managed to make him feel like that. _Maybe you were right Kaiden, _he thought.

Shepard went back up to the CIC and stood in front of the galaxy map; he listened to Hacketts report about Geth on a few Alliance planets and he plotted a course for the nearest one. He had to get his mind clear; whenever he wasn't mourning Kaiden he was thinking about Tali it was an unpleasant mixture of grief and happiness. He called for Garrus and Liara, he would've taken Tali but he wanted to talk to Garrus about her in private, he knew they were close and he didn't want to intrude on anything that may have possibly formed between the two.

Shepard, Garrus and Liara put on their armour and began piling into the Mako, Tali came through from engineering and wished them luck "Stay safe Shepard" she said as Garrus closed the hatch, a smile crept upon Shepards lips. As they descended Shepard thought about how to word what he wanted to say, he didn't want to offend his friend if he and Tali were in a relationship. The Mako hit the ground, the stabilizers levelling out the main body. They began their mission.

"Garrus" Shepard finally said "Do you… like Tali?"

"How do you mean?" replied the Turian

"You know… like her like her", Shepard felt like a four year old. Garrus chuckled.

"Not in that way no" he said "I consider her to be more of a… a younger sister, why?"

"It's just that I've seen you two together and I was just wondering if… well you know" Shepard said as he activated the Makos vertically aligned thruster in order to get over a small crevasse.

"Shepard, it's obvious that you like Tali more than anyone on the Normandy" Garrus said. Shepard pulled over and looked at him.

"Is it that obvious?" he said looking down at the controls. Garrus nodded and put a hand on his friends shoulder. Shepard looked at Liara expecting an answer from her.

"More than you know" Liara said "The way you look at her, the way you act around her basically everything you do when she's around" she sounded slightly annoyed.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Garrus said, leaning forward and looking at her.

"What… no… I'm not jealous of Tali" Liara said, she began to blush.

"Liara… I was a C-sec detective, I know how to interrogate people" Garrus said in a playful but menacing tone.

"Well… I… let's just get on with the mission" Liara said, blushing even more.

They dealt with the Geth outpost radioed the Normandy to pick them up.

"Look Shepard I understand you have feelings for Tali but I don't think hooking up would be a good idea, with her immune system she could get sick, it might even kill her" said Garrus "and also, only a few hours ago you lost your best friend, I doubt you would want to go into a relationship so quickly" he said as he took control of the main cannon.

Shepard nodded sadly, his friend may have just broken his heart but he knew he was right. Shepard didn't want Tali to take that risk; he cared about her too much.

After all the Geth outposts were dealt with they went to go destroy the main base. They had to disembark the Mako in order to go into the base and flush out any remaining Geth. Shepard was so torn up he could barely shoot straight. He took a few hits but nothing Medi-gel couldn't fix. As he searched the bases computers he found some Geth fleet movement data. He transferred it to his Omni-tool and salvaged anything else from the Geth corpses. After they returned to the Normandy Shepard went to the sick-bay for treatment.

"My word commander" Dr Chakwas scolded him "I don't think you've ever had this many injuries from taking out a small Geth base". Shepard remained silent.

"Ok what's up with you?" Chakwas finally said.

Shepard took a deep breath, "I love Tali". Chakwas stopped in her tracks, "I'm sorry?"

"I have… feelings for Tali" Shepard said, biting his lip.

"I knew it" she said. Shepard looked up, confused.

"Your armours on-board monitoring programs detect that every mission you have with Tali your heart rate is elevated, you sweat much more and your hand movement display signs of incredible anxiety. The program sums it up to be extreme fear but when I overheard you talking to her the other day I realised it wasn't fear, it was love" Chakwas said as she pulled out a data-pad and showing it to Shepard. It had details of his heart rate, body language and other readings.

"Why did it say extreme fear?" Shepard said as he read the details.

"Alliance equipment doesn't check for love, Commander. Anyway I'm sorry to say that you shouldn't tell her about your feelings for her. She could get very sick should you enter a relationship, maybe even die"

"I should go" Shepard said, making himself an excuse just to get himself some alone time.

"I haven't finished with… oh alright" Chakwas said, doing her best to respect Shepards situation.

He wandered the ship, avoiding as many people as possible, he found himself in the engineering room, looking dreamily at Tali.

Tali was trying to balance out the power feeds, it was a constant struggle trying to keep them synced. She arched her back and threw her arms up in the air, halfway through her stretch she heard someone sigh, almost dreamily. She turned around and saw Shepard leaning against a wall; he was staring at her, a broad smile across his face. The moment he noticed her he immediately stood up and his smile disappeared.

"Oh… hi Shepard" Tali said, she was glad she had a helmet to hide her blush. _He was watching me?_ She thought.

"Uuh… hi Tali" Shepard said, he tried to hide his embarrassment.

"Umm… I have a favour to ask" Tali said as she looked at her hands.

"Anything for you" Shepard said. He pinched himself. What was he doing? He was doing his best not to flirt with her.

Tali felt the strange sensation in her stomach again; she had been awestruck ever since Shepard had rescued her. Every time he said anything to her she felt odd, the best way she could describe it was warm and fuzzy inside. She almost shivered at the compliment.

"That… uh… Geth data you found. Could I have a copy? It would allow me to complete my pilgrimage; I mean… if it's ok with you" she asked, nervously.

"Of course, I'll forward you a copy" Shepard said slowly, carefully choosing his words.

"Oh thank you, thank you so much!" Tali almost yelled "I can return to the fleet!"

"What no! Not now!" Shepard yelled, everyone in engineering looked at him. He blushed, _keep it together_ he thought.

"Shepard, I won't leave until Saren is stopped, and even then I'll remain here, as long as you need me" Tali said taking a step closer.

Shepard panicked and took a step back. He didn't what to accidentally start anything. Tali's shoulders dropped, he excused himself and went to his cabin.

He lay on the bed and tried to sleep. _Why must I feel for her so much? Why can't I just be with her? _He thought. He began to feel terrible; he had offended her in taking that one step back. Why did he have to love her? There were so many other women on board; he just had to fall for the one he couldn't be with.


	2. Chapter 2

Tali tapped away at her keyboard, she felt like she was about to cry. What had she done to make him leave so quickly? She fought back tears and tried her best to concentrate on her work.

"Everything ok Tali?" asked engineer Adams.

"Fine" Tali said, she felt so bad, she thought about saying something but decided she would just make things worse.

She excused herself and found herself a quiet corner with no one around, she sat down and let herself cry. She eventually fell asleep leaning against the wall.

"Tali?"

"Mmm… Shepard?" she whispered

"Tali wake up" Garrus said "what are you doing here?"

"Oh Garrus! I was just… I needed some alone time, guess I dozed off" she said.

"Shepard said he wants everyone in the mess"

"Oh ok, I'll be there in a minute"

Shepard had gathered most of the crew; he explained to them that they were going to Ilos; he gave a pep speech and dismissed them. Throughout the whole thing Tali avoided eye contact with Shepard, Shepard noticed it and felt like he had been slapped in the face, he had well and truly offended her. He went to his cabin, in the past two days he had his heart broken what felt like a million times. Now whenever he thought of Tali he felt cold and sad.

He began filing mission reports, the only thing had left to care about his cabin door opened, Ashley walked in and asked if he could use some company, he accepted hoping she could take his mind of things; she had brought a few bottles of vodka.

Shepard woke up, his head pounded as he looked around. He sat up and looked next to him, Ashley was still asleep. He thought for a minute, a look of dread came over his face. He jumped out of bed and threw on his uniform, _should not have done that, _he thought, _I should not_ _have done that. _As he left the room Ashley woke up,

"Shepard?" she said as Shepard began to run to the CIC.

Shepard picked his team to take to Ilos. Garrus and Tali, all throughout the mission he kept thinking of what he had done the previous night, he wondered if he could lie to Tali about it, he felt so conflicted, first he didn't want to be with her and now all he could think about was being with her and her reaction to him being with Ashley.

They discovered a Prothean VI called Vigil who for a few minutes managed to tear Shepard's attention away from Tali long enough to understand that the Galaxy was at stake, Shepard managed to put all of his attention on the mission and took the Mako through the conduit which took them to the Citadel.

They fought their way to the Citadel tower and faced Saren in the council chambers; after Shepard talked to him for a few minutes, Saren was able to resist his indoctrination long enough to kill himself. Shepard sent Garrus and Tali to make sure he was dead. Garrus let off a few rounds in his head.

"He's dead Shepard" he confirmed.

"I'll be down in a minute" Shepard called out to them, he opened the Citadels arms and the 5th fleet initiated its attack on Sovereign.

"Uuh… Shepard" Garrus said.

"What? What… the hell?" Shepard replied as he watched Sarens dead body start to jerk around, his talons began ripping off his own flesh, Saren stood tall, he was no longer of flesh and bone, he was now metal and cybernetics.

"Shepard! Help!" Tali called out as Saren lunged toward her; she flew back under the force of Sarens charge.

Shepard felt anger begin to boil up inside him.

"Don't you touch her!" he screamed as he jumped down, and began to fiercely pump bullet after bullet into Saren. After several long minutes of intense fighting Saren lay dead, the metal and cybernetics turned to ash.

Shepard dropped his rifle and ran over to Tali's body; Garrus had taken a few shots and was resting against a wall.

"Tali? Tali can you hear me?" Shepard said as he tried to shake Tali awake.

Tali coughed and sat up abruptly, she took several deep breaths.

"Hey, hey its ok" Shepard said "We're safe now" he helped her up and walked back up to the main chamber.

He watched through the giant viewport as Sovereign was torn apart by the 5th fleet. Garrus and Tali cheered as Sovereign exploded.

Shepard watched as a piece flew off, it began to get bigger.

"Go! Move!" he said as he tried to push Tali and Garrus out of the way. He heard an explosion and everything went dark.

He woke up; he was surrounded by metal and fire. He pushed a piece of wreckage off of him and looked around for his team, for Tali. He heard Anderson's voice in the distance, he climbed over some wreckage and looked around, he saw Talis unmistakable purple hood. He climbed down and greeted them much to their delight.

After he had been reunited with the Normandy's crew, they all went to the nightclub, Flux. He tried his best to have fun however Ashley stuck by his side, dogging him. Near the end of the evening Ashley suddenly announced that she and Shepard were a couple. Shepard was as shocked as everyone else. He had not agreed to it, he never would have, the reason why he spent that night with her was because he was drunk and stressed out.

Everyone congratulated them, even Tali; despite the visor Shepard could see it in her eyes. He had ruined any chance of having her. He did his best to hold back tears. One or two managed to escape but he wiped them away quickly. When he had a moment to himself he took out his anger on any inanimate object in sight. He collapsed against the wall. He became furious at the situation he had gotten himself in; Ashley was far too clingy and aggressive to dump. He would never have Tali now.

Tali went to her private corner and hid herself away, she cried her eyes out again, how could he choose her? The racist bitch didn't deserve him. Tali began to cry even harder, Shepard had never loved her. She had no chance. She made plans to leave for the fleet; she couldn't stand to be here any longer it reminded her of Shepard, everything did.

After a few weeks she embarked on her final mission on the Normandy. A quick scout in Geth space, halfway through the mission the Normandy came under attack by an unknown enemy, the ship was being torn apart.

She ran to the escape pods, she passed Shepard who was preparing the distress beacon, she was about to go and help him but Ashley stormed passed and helped Shepard herself, Tali felt cold and hatred towards Ashley began to boil inside her. She ran to a pod and got in. A few minutes after ejecting, a message came over the comm from Joker. The unimaginable had happened, Shepard was dead.

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**Sorry this took awhile to get up, i've been very busy over the past few weeks. Feedback is much appreciated and I will also need your opinions on whether or not to add a sex scene. A few personal friends of mine say I should but I feel like I should ask you guys first.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter down, I hope you guys enjoy this. I have rewritten a few scenes so things may be different. I would like feedback on whether or not I should continue rewriting scenes or just stick to what happens in-game. The more feedback the better. **

* * *

Normandy SR-2

Tali and her team was huddled around a Holo-map of the colony, the Quarian they were sent to rescue, Veetor, was hiding in the loading area of the colony. Her Omni-tool lit up, a shuttle had landed nearby, and she would deal with it in a minute. A few minutes later, after some arguing from her team members about what to do, the door opened, three humans stepped in. Her team grabbed their weapons and took aim at the intruders.

"Prazza! You said you would let me handle… Shepard!?" Tali said as she was face to face with her former Commander. She stood there in silence looking at him, he had a few scars.

"Is it really you?" she asked.

"Remember that Geth data I gave you Tali" he said, she couldn't believe it, it really was him.

After he explained himself and why he was here they split off into teams, she wanted to go with him but she had to keep her squad in line. After they found Veetor he happily gave him over to her. She was glad he was still himself despite being with Cerberus. All throughout her journey to the fleet and to Haestrom she thought about Shepard, he was back, she still couldn't believe it.

Shepard walked to the forward gun battery; he had just met up with Garrus. Shepard needed wanted to know what had happened after he died. He didn't trust anyone else.

"Garrus, I had a question. What were things like after I died?" he asked

"Well… everyone was really depressed after the first six months; oh… you should've seen Tali. She cried all throughout your funeral" replied Garrus.

Shepard felt his heart sink like marble in a lake. He remembered seeing Tali on Freedoms Progress. She was very cold towards him. He knew he had ruined it for himself, even after two years he still had no chance of having her.

A few weeks later the Illusive Man tipped him off about the Collectors hitting Horizon, Shepard took Garrus and the newest crew member, a Krogan called Grunt along during the mission. After they had reactivated the colonies defence system and chased the collectors off world, Shepard ran into Ashley, he expected her to join him and help him get over the shock of dying and coming back two years later. Instead she scolded him for aligning himself with Cerberus and turned her back on him. Everyone who had loved him or he had loved had left him. He had thoroughly expected Ashley to sympathise with him and help him get over the stress.

After he got back to the Normandy he went down to the engineering deck and sat by a console. He overheard the engineers talk about him, the woman, Gabby Daniels, explained to the man, Kenneth Donnelly that Shepard was rumoured to have been in love with a Quarian but because of unknown reasons he had been tricked into a relationship with a woman he did not love.

"Do you think we could ask him then?" Said Kenneth as Gabby got to the part about unknown reasons.

"Kenneth!" she yelled

"I just want to know!" he yelled back.

Shepard had had enough of this and left.

"Oh look he's gone; now you upset him! Your such an ass"

Shepard walked through to the conference room, and had a meeting with the Illusive Man, he was sent to recruit a few more people, he looked through the Dossiers he had received, a Drell called Thane, an Asari Justicar, a Quarian called Tali… _wait…_ _Tali _he thought, he was going to regret this. He knew he and Tali wouldn't get along well. He set a course for Haestrom, _better get this over with_ he thought, he looked at the Galaxy Map as he went through his memories of all the good times they had together, there were few but they still brought a smile to his face. The only thing about Tali he still had happiness in.

"Are you ok Commander?" asked the Yeoman, Kelly Chambers

"Hmm? Oh… I'm fine Kelly" Shepard said as he turned and walked to the armoury.

Shepard, Grunt and Garrus landed on the searing hot surface of Haestrom, its harsh sun began to fry their shields, they moved from cover to cover, no sign of Tali, soon they met a Geth squad, and after clearing out the Geth Shepard opened up what appeared to be a workshop. Geth, of course there were Geth here they were in the middle of Geth space. He looked around and found a laptop, he opened its video logs and found one made by Tali, and he decided to play it. Tali spoke about why she was there, to collect data on why Haestroms sun was so harsh, and what she was planning to do. She began talking about the Geth and how they had wiped out half her unit. Her last words were "I wish Shepard were here, I miss him… no… I need him". Shepard stood in silence for a few minutes, she wanted him with her, and she missed him. He grabbed his rifle and stormed out, decimating any Geth in his way, he met up with a Quarian, Kal'Reegar.

"Who are you!?" yelled Reegar as bullets flew above their heads.

"Commander Shepard, I've come for Tali" Shepard yelled as he popped out from behind cover, letting off a few shots "You're injured!"

"I took some fire trying to take out that Colossus, don't worry about me I applied Medi-gel and I'm practically swimming in antibiotics" said Reegar "Tali's in the observation tower, behind that Colossus"

"What's the plan?"

"Well, in a normal situation, I would take out its shields and slowly slowly do damage, kill with bug bites!" yelled Reegar "But it has a self-repair program, it just huddles up and repairs itself!"

Shepard thought out a plan, he would run around the side whilst Grunt and Garrus held the Geth's attention. Reegar would provide support fire from the back. Shepard moved quickly from cover to cover, whilst Garrus and Grunt kept the Geth away from him. Shepard managed to flank the Colossus; he looked around and found a crate of missile war-heads. He pushed the crate behind the Colossus and placed a grenade next to it; he pulled the pin and ran.

The noise was deafening. The Colossus flipped forward landing upside down. Shepard helped Garrus and Grunt kill the remaining Geth. Now there was nothing between Shepard and Tali, Shepard ran past the colossus corpse and entered the building. Tali was downloading the last bits of data to her Omni-tool.

"Shepard, I'm so glad you're here" she said stepping towards him, I was tapped into your comm but mine is damaged, I kept yelling for you to find me", she began wringing her hands. Shepard decided he wouldn't make things any worse than they were; he stepped even closer to her.

"Tali…" he said, panting, he was exhausted from the fighting; he had never fought so hard for anything in his life. And here she was, right in front of him, the urge to confess his love was bubbling up from inside him. He opened his mouth but was interrupted, Reegar walked in,

"Reegar, you're ok" Tali said and gave him the Data.

"A little scraped up but I'm ok. Can't you just hold on to the data Ma'am?" he asked

"No, I'm not going with you, I'm going with Shepard" she said looking back at Shepard who was watching her with those same dreamy eyes again. "I mean, that is why you came here right? For me."

"Of course" Said Shepard, smiling.

The shuttle ride back to the Normandy was filled with Garrus telling Tali about what happened to him, as Archangel. Shepard couldn't wait to tell Tali about his love for her, it seemed stupid that the only thing that put his faith back into her was a single sentence. But there was something about the way she said it that convinced Shepard that he still had a chance to be with her.

Shepard assigned Tali as chief engineer and visited her every day, hoping that he would one day have the courage to tell her.

After a week, she seemed very distressed.

"Shepard… I… the Migrant Fleet…" she seemed shocked and scared "I'm being trialled for treason"

She said, her eyes looked up at him, pleading for him to do something.

"That's outrageous" Shepard said, his temper rising "what are the co-ordinates, we can sort this out right now"

"What?" Tali said in surprise.

"C'mon" Shepard said. He was furious, how could anyone accuse Tali of such a thing?

"Shepard I… thank you" she said as she followed him into the elevator "I was going to book passage on another ship but… thank you" she wanted to wrap her arms around him, but thought better of it. She wasn't sure if he was with Ashley still.

Shepard walked to the galaxy map and angrily punched in the co-ordinates of the Migrant Fleet.

After an hour, they arrived at the location of the Fleet, they requested docking with the Rayya, Tali took the comm.

"Normandy, identify yourself" said the traffic control officer.

"From time adrift among open stars, through tides of light and through shoals of dust I shall return to where I began" said Tali

"Acknowledged, welcome home Tali'Zorah" said the traffic control officer.

The Normandy docked at its marked docking tube. Shepard and Tali dis-embarked and met the welcoming party, if you could call it that. They followed them through to the central chamber.

"Auntie Raan!" Tali called out and ran forward as she saw her adopted Aunt

"Hello Tali'Zorah vas Normandy" she said

"Raan this is Shepard vas Normandy… wait, Raan, you called me vas Normandy" said Tali as Shepard caught up to her.

"I know Tali, the admirals are having you tried under that name" Raan said

"Shepard that means you will be my defence, when it comes to court hearings the ship captain of the accused is the defender" Tali said "I couldn't ask for a better captain"

"I'll do everything in my power to help you Tali" Shepard said, he had to make this right… for her.

"I assume you and father will be absent from the trial, having such close ties to me" Tali said looking back to Raan.

"Yes Tali. The trial is starting, you two should get in there" she said sadly

"We know lay these chargers upon Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Tali'Zorah you have been accused of treason by bringing active Geth aboard, you face exile, what do you say in your defence?" said Admiral Xen

"I only sent inactive parts, not whole units" Tali said, she was beginning to panic, but she trusted Shepard to do his best to help her.

"Then explained how Geth managed to seize the Alarai, the science vessel your father was working on" Yelled Admiral Koris

"Wait, what!" Tali and Shepard said in unison

"We have sent marine units but none have come back, everyone on board, your father included is presumed dead" replied Admiral Gerrel

"Shepard we have to go to the Alarai, I need to find my father, he will be able to sort this out" Tali said to Shepard,

"Admirals, we will go aboard the Alarai and sort all this out" said Shepard

"Then you can find sufficient evidence to prove Tali's innocence or die honourably" Admiral Xen commanded, she dismissed the court.

"Thank you Shepard" Tali said

"No problem, now let's go" Shepard said, he followed Tali to the shuttle hat would take them to the Alarai.

Shepard and Tali encountered heavy Geth resistance, after clearing out the first couple of rooms Tali began to doubt herself, Shepard reassured her that she had nothing to with this.

Tali yelled "So you think this is my father's doing?" she was clearly hurt by his comment. Shepard walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Tali, I'm saying that anything that you did, it wasn't intentional. Ok?" Tali nodded

"I'm sorry Shepard I didn't mean to yell I just… I'm scared… we have to find my father" she pulled out her shotgun and pushed forward, as they moved through the ship they found out bits of what Tali's father and his team were working on. Tali read the details from a datapad.

"It says here that they were trying to find a way to control the Geth" Tali said, as she looked through some files. Shepard was tired of the Quarians trying to get rid of the Geth.

"Why don't the Quarians just find a new planet?" Shepard said semi-seriously.

"Shepard, our immune system is weak because of the sterile environment on the fleet, Keelah it would take us hundreds of years and extensive genetic re-write for us to adapt to a new planet" her temper was rising "the only way for my people to survive is if we take back the home world. Every time you touch a flower with bare hands, smell its aroma without air filters, you are doing something I can't. So don't you go telling me that we should just find a new home and think everything will be fine!" she yelled.

"Tali, I… I'm sorry" Shepard said quietly, he hated seeing her like this.

"Let's just get this over with" she said, clearly on the verge of tears. Shepard felt terrible, he should have comforted her, and she was under enough stress as it is.

As they made their way to the front of the ship, they began to come across more and more bodies. Shepard knelt down beside one, he checked for a pulse, nothing.

"Father!" Tali cried and ran over to Shepard; she knelt down next to him and put her hand to the Quarians mask. "No… No… you always have a plan, masked life signs or a medical stasis program maybe… no you wouldn't just die like this!" Tali was crying.

"Hey… hey come here" he said as he helped Tali up and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him. Tali cried into his shoulder.

"I… I'm sorry" she said

"You've got nothing to be sorry about" Shepard said, Tali sniffed and looked at her father.

"Maybe he knew I would come, maybe he left a message" Tali said as she searched the body.

The Omni-tool sprang to life "Tali, if you receive this then I'm sorry. I have failed you, in case you haven't figured it out the Geth parts you were sending me were used to build active Geth. I wanted to find a way of controlling them; I wanted to build you a house on the home world. The Geth are right outside the door, my research data is on a terminal on the bridge. I'm sorry Tali; I love you, Keelah se'lai"

"Keelah se'lai father" Tali said "we have to get that Data"

Tali opened the door to the bridge, empty. She walked over to the terminal and pulled the Data, she deleted it.

"Tali! That was the evidence we needed to prove your innocence!" Shepard yelled.

"Shepard, I would rather be exiled than have my father go down as the worst war criminal in Quarian history!"

Shepard nodded and sighed.

"We should get back soon, or else they will presume us dead" Shepard said as he and Tali walked back through the ship.

Tali and Shepard burst into the courtroom. The trial was already underway.

"Commander Shepard, do you have sufficient evidence to prove Tali'Zorah innocent?" asked Admiral Xen.

Shepard took a step forward.

"Shepard please" Tali said to him.

Shepard stood for a few long seconds.

"This whole trial is an insult!" Shepard yelled, the crowd gasped "Tali has done more for the fleet than anyone in this room ever will! She stopped a Reaper invasion two years ago, she risked her life on Haestrom for some data about stars blowing up!" Shepard yelled at the Admirals. Someone yelled out from the crowd, it was Kal'Reegar

"Yeah! Tali's done more for the fleet than any of you assholes ever will!" he yelled "So if you exile her, you might as well exile me too"

Another Quarian stood up, it was Veetor "Same here!"

The crowd started shouting things in Tali's defence. The Admirals began their vote.

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy" said Admiral Xen "On account of your actions in service to the fleet, we do not find sufficient evidence to convict, court dismissed"

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief, he felt someone hug him, it was Tali.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed. She was crying again, not tears of sadness but tears of joy. Shepard hugged her back.

"Shepard… I… I've never had anyone speak like that on my behalf, thank you" she said through tears

"We can go back in there and get you exiled if you want" he said

"Huh… no thanks… I've had enough of politics. But… it is fun watching you shout" she said

"Heheheh… come on Miss vas Normandy, let's get back to our ship"

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**That's it for another chapter! Feedback is appreciated as always and i hope you guys are enjoying this so far!**


	4. Chapter 4

Shepard was in a good mood, he had re-established his friendship with Tali. He took the elevator to the engineering deck and rounded the corner.

"Hey Tali" he said.

"Hey Shepard, oh come on you little Bosh'tet!" she said to her console "Oh sorry, I took some fire on the Alarai, nothing serious I just had to open the suit to check the wound. I got sloppy and didn't check the seals properly; I just have a minor infection, nothing to worry about. I'm taking it out on the poor drive core"

"I can't imagine having to live in a suit your life" Shepard said,

"It's not easy, I mean the most intimate or physically social thing we can do with another Quarian, or well… anyone is link our suit environments, I haven't trusted anyone with that… except you" Tali stopped, she panicked, she couldn't believe she had let herself slip. She looked at Shepard; a grin was slowly crawling across his lips.

"Tali…" he said, he took her hands in his "I feel the same, way"

Tali felt her heart skip a beat. He loved her. She couldn't believe it. She was grinning as widely as possible.

"I've always felt the same" he said.

Tali yelped and jumped up on him, she wrapped her legs around his back and her arms around his neck, and he stumbled and fell through the door, Tali landed on top of him. She slowly began to bring her face close to his; a gentle 'dink' was heard as her visor connected with his forehead.

They stared into each other's eyes.

"Shepard, you don't know what that means to me" she said as she stood up, Shepard got up and held her hands.

"I've always loved you Tali" he said as he hugged her.

Tali had wanted Shepard for so long, when he first rescued her in the wards, she felt drawn to him, but as she spent more time with him, she yearned to feel his skin on hers to taste his lips and show him her face.

"I'll find a way to make this work" she whispered to him "Let me do some research. For too long I've dreamed but… I never thought you'd see past this…" she gestured to her visor.

"I'll help in any way I can" Shepard said to her. She said her good bye and returned to her work, she glanced back to see him jog through to the opposite hall. She put her hand over her visor light. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

"So… what did you talk about?" asked Gabby, Tali looked to her right, both engineers were smiling at her.

"You saw?" Tali said

"The whole thing" said Kenneth

"I knew you two would end up together" Gabby said

"Can you please keep this a secret for now" asked Tali

"Of course" said Gabby

"lips are sealed" said Kenneth "I bet Shepard is finding out a way right now, instead o' stopping the Collectors"

"Kenneth, don't take it too far" Gabby warned.

Shepard went up to the tech lab; Mordin would be the best to consult on such a sensitive matter.

"Shepard, good to see you" said the cheerful, fast talking Salarian tapping away at his console.

"Mordin, uuh…" Shepard was still figuring out how to word this "If a human would want to enter an intimate relationship with a Quarian… what would the human have to do in order to make it safe for her?" Shepard asked, clearing his throat.

Mordin put his hand to his chin in thought.

"Would need a sterile room for her to remove her helmet. Human would also need to sterilise. Personally I would advise against any oral contact, ingesting any of the opposite's saliva or even sweat could cause an allergic reaction" Mordin said "If I may, why do you ask?"

Shepard looked at him, thinking. He decided to tell him the truth.

"Tali and I, we just… agreed on a relationship" Shepard said, somewhat embarrassed.

Mordin smirked.

"Will forward information on Quarian physiology to your cabin, details of erogenous zones and positions comfortable for both species" Mordin said as he tapped away at a data-pad "Now, I will be here studying cell reproduction. Much simpler, less alcohol and mood music required" he said smiling kindly at Shepard.  
"Thank you Mordin" Shepard said as he turned and left for his cabin. He had some studying to do.

Shepard ran past husks and scions. Tali and Garrus were in close pursuit.

"In here!" Shepard yelled as he sprinted through a doorway, Tali and Garrus followed and Shepard closed the door.

They all breathed heavily, they were outnumbered and had to make their escape.

"Dammit Shepard, you said going aboard a Reaper would be fun" Garrus chuckled; he could hear the husks slamming their fists against the door.

Shepard laughed "You don't find this fun?" he looked around the room; the walls felt like they were pressing in on him, the sooner they could leave the better.

He noticed Tali had her shotgun trained on something, the Geth that had saved his life a few minutes ago. It was doing something at a terminal, Shepard pulled out his pistol, a few husks had climbed down the wall and were advancing on them. One husk diverted away from the trio and went for the Geth.

"Look out!" Shepard yelled but the husk was too quick, its punch deactivated the Geth.

Shepard and the team dispatched the husks and went to the side of the Geths body. It was intact, a first in over three hundred years. As Tali checked the Geth Shepard looked at the terminal it was working on, he couldn't understand the language it was in, he pressed a random button and a hatch on the wall opened revealing a glowing blue orb.

"Shepard" said EDI over the comm "I believe you have found the Reapers mass effect core"

Shepard took aim and fired a shot, the whole room shook, he heard the screams of husks.

"That's not good" Garrus said as he pulled out his Assault rifle.

"We have to destroy the core!" yelled Tali.

"Garrus keep the husks off our backs, we'll take care of the core" Shepard said as he pulled out his shotgun.

He and Tali pumped round after round into the drive core, assisting Garrus whenever he began to struggle. After several clips the core began to flicker and fluctuate. Shepard switched to his pistol; he had run out of shotgun compatible clips. He and Tali mercilessly hammered the core until with a loud bang of an energy discharge, it died. The Reaper corpse began to shake again.

"Shepard, we have to get out of here!" Tali said, she stumbled and Shepard helped steady her.

"What about the Geth?" Garrus asked as he grabbed hold the railing.

"Bring it with us" Shepard said, as he bent down and hauled the Geth on top of him.

Damn it was heavy. Tali was impressed, the Geth was slightly larger than Shepard and most definitely heavier. For a brief moment she wished she could see his muscles under his armour, whenever he worked out she would always sneak a look at his toned and strong arms. She dismissed the thought, she had to stay focused.

They carried they Geth as fast as they could toward the rendezvous point. As the Normandy pulled up alongside the derelict reaper Shepard and Garrus tossed the Geth over to the Normandy, Tali thought it would fall but it left the Reapers artificial gravity and drifted to the Normandy's airlock. Garrus took a running jump and cleared the gap as Shepard and Tali covered him. Shepard turned and jumped, when he reached the other side Tali did the same, she fell a few centimetres short and began tipping backwards.

Shepard reached out and grabbed hold of the barrel of her shotgun, she held on and he pulled her in. When she was level again she lurched herself forward into his arms. Garrus gave them a weird look then smirked. The airlock door swung closed and the decontamination procedure initiated itself. Garrus cleared his throat.

"You know I would leave but the doors kind of locked" he said, smiling.

Shepard and Tali pulled away from each other and began making excuses. Garrus just smiled.

"Don't worry your secrets safe with me. Always new you two would get together at some point, despite my advice" Garrus looked at Shepard "But you have my full support, and I'm happy for you two"

"Thanks Garrus" said Tali, breathing a sigh of relief.

The airlock doors opened onto the CIC and Tali walked out, Shepard followed her but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it Garrus?" he asked

"You know I care about Tali like she's my sister so I'll get to the point, if you hurt her, the stick up my ass will be imbedded in your face" Garrus said.

Shepard slowly nodded; Garrus and Tali had been close ever since the beginning.

Shepard alerted EDI to install the Reaper IFF they had retrieved and to send a team to escort the inactive Geth to the AI core.

After a heated debate between Jacob, Miranda, Tali and Shepard the decision was made to reactivate the Geth, although Tali was uneasy about Shepard being in the AI core alone and unarmed with a Geth.

After he went inside Tali anxiously waited in the med-bay, Chakwas asked her if she was ok, Tali deflected the question and continued her worrying, after several minutes the door finally opened and Shepard walked out looking a little shocked but otherwise fine.

"What happened?" Tali asked.

"The Geth's name is Legion, it wants to help us" Shepard said as he left the med-bay and walked to the elevator.

"It has a name?" Tali said, shocked "and it wants to help us?"

Shepard nodded slowly "It gave me the co-ordinates of a Geth base, apparently it's filled with Geth that worship Reapers"

"Don't all Geth worship Reapers?"

"No, not all. Only a handful of Geth" Shepard said, still shocked from his encounter.

"Keelah, so we are going to take it out?"

"Right now"

Shepard punched in the co-ordinates, and went to the armoury.

As the Normandy exited FTL the systems began to go haywire.

"Shepard" said EDI, her hologram appearing on a pedestal "I advise you take the shuttle for this next mission while we run diagnostics on the Reaper IFF"

"Ok, thanks EDI, everyone to the shuttle bay" Shepard ordered.

The mission went off without a hitch, the Geth base was destroyed and they were on their return journey. An urgent message from Joker came over the comm.

"Commander…" Joker said, he was breathing heavily.

"Joker, what's wrong?" Shepard asked.

"I… I'm sorry but… they got them…" Joker said in between breaths

"What? Got who?" Shepard said into the comm

"The Collectors, they took the crew Shepard. They took them all"

The shuttle flew into the shuttle bay and gently landed. Shepard ran off the shuttle and into the elevator, he took it to the CIC. When he stepped out he glanced around, bullet holes and scorch marks were on the floor and walls. Every console was vacant, not a soul in sight. He ran up to the bridge, Joker was sitting in the chair his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry Commander, I…" Joker said

"You couldn't of done anything Jeff" said EDI

"All the Collectors have done is make this personal" Shepard spat, he turned and walked towards the armoury. The Reaper IFF was properly installed; they could go through the Omega 4 relay whenever they wished. Shepard set a course for the Relay and retreated to his cabin.

Tali stood in the elevator, her finger hovering inches above the button for Shepard's cabin. She took a breath. She had done everything she could; she had taken antibiotics and immuno-boosters as well as herbal supplements. She pushed the button and waited as the agonisingly slow elevator made its way to Shepard's cabin.

She stood just outside his door, her hand hovering over the 'open' button. She held her breath and stepped in; Shepard was by the desk sorting through paperwork. Tali decided he was busy and tried to walk back out, she clipped a table on her way out, a data-pad dropping to the floor. Shepard spun round, but instantly smiled as he laid eyes on her. She had to say something, there was no turning back.

"I've… uuh… taken some medication… as well as herbal supplements that should bolster my immune system" Tali managed to say "I was going to bring music… but I didn't know what you liked… and I'm babbling like an idiot" she looked into his piercing blue eyes, they were as if they looked into her soul.

She began to calm down and they sat on the bed "I'm sorry… it's just that whenever I'm nervous I start talking… it's a defence mechanism and because of this damned helmet people can't see my expressions and I have to make it clear what I'm…" Shepard reached up and began to undo her visors latches "what… I'm" he pulled off her visor; the air was brisk and dry.

She looked at Shepard, without her visor he seemed paler. She struggled to find her words.

Shepard looked at her, taking in every detail of her beautiful face.

"Feeling" Tali finally managed to finish.

Shepards smile said a thousand words, a smile came across her lips and she could hold herself no longer. She pounced on Shepard, pushing into a kiss. She was delighted that she didn't cause him to have an allergic reaction.

After several minutes they pulled apart, breathing heavily. Shepard gently pushed back her hood and the rest of her helmet automatically retracted; she pulled her long silky black hair out from her down her back and let it hang loosely over her shoulders. Shepard raised a hand and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb; his skin was rough against hers.

Shepard stared deep into her pearl like eyes; her soft pale skin glowed in the dim quarters. He smiled at her and she smiled back exposing a set of teeth identical to humans except for the double canines. Her smile was the most gorgeous he had ever seen, he pulled her close for another kiss, this time not as long but equally as passionate.

He admired her facial decorations, a set of purple lines leading from her hairline, pointing between her eyebrows. He had noticed she had taken off her gloves. He held her three fingered hand and he felt her shiver under his touch, her hand moved up his forearm feeling his incredibly well built arms.

He helped undo her boots, fore arm and neck plate sections of her suit. More decorations began to appear, a pattern of lines on her forearms and he thought he saw a hint of them on her thighs. He had thought these were tattoos or a form of clan markings but upon running his fingers along them he found that they were shallow grooves actually indented into her skin.

Tali was more human like in appearance than he originally thought, after several more minutes of kissing Shepard began testing his boundaries. He began to nibble his way down her neck, she shuddered at the sensation, her right shoulder had slipped out of her suit, he began to peel back the rest when suddenly she threw him back onto the bed and began straddling him, his hand went down her side and rested above her hip, she ran her hand on his incredibly well defined chest, almost purring as she did so. They had both waited so long for this moment.

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**Another chapter down! Hope you are still enjoying it! I have decided against the sex scene due to negative feedback. Reviews are always a huge help! **


	5. Chapter 5

Shepard opened his eyes; a purple, black and gold figure was putting the rest of her suit back on. He sat up and caught one last glimpse of her face as her visor reconnected itself with a hiss. The previous night had been one that he would remember for the rest of his life. He sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Hey" said Tali

"Hey" replied Shepard, smiling as he stood up and walked over to his drawers. He pulled out a fresh set of clothes and pulled them on.

"Are you feeling ok?" he asked her.

"I'm going to be sick for weeks"

"Sorry"

"Not your fault" she said as she walked over and snaked her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, he put a hand on her hip and they walked to the elevator.

They walked out onto the CIC; it was so empty with the crew missing. EDIs voice came over the comm "Shepard, we will be through the relay in an hour"

"Thanks EDI" Shepard said as he and Tali walked around, the ship was frightening in its emptiness.

"They went down to the crew deck and had breakfast, Jacob and Garrus joined them and they tried to keep things discreet.

Holding hands under the table was thought to be successful until Jacob said "You can cut the act now guys"

"What act?" Garrus said, failing to keep Shepard and Talis relationship quiet.

"It's obvious that you're holding hands and Garrus has the smug look that looks like he knows something" Jacob said

Tali immediately latched on to Shepards arm drawing laughs from everyone.

"I'm glad you two found each other" Garrus said as he bit into a pancake.

"Yeah, especially considering the fact that we may die today" Jacob said, looking down at the table and frowning.

Shepard realised how easy it was to forget that the mission they were about to embark on was practically suicide.

Joker came on the comm announcing they were five minutes before they were through the relay; they stood up and proceeded to the armoury. Shepard asked Tali to stay with him on the CIC, when she said she had to maintain the engines Kasumi volunteered to do it for her giving a wink. Shepard proceeded to the bridge and stood just behind Joker.

"Good timing, we'll be through the Relay in one minute" Joker said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Don't break your hands, not now" Shepard said

"Don't worry I have to actually try to break my hands in order to break them. Mordin said that years of mostly using my hands have made them a little stronger than everything else" Joker replied

"twenty seconds"

"Everyone get ready" Shepard said into his comm

"ok, five, four, three, two, one" Joker said as the Normandy lurched to halt in front of a giant piece of metal "Oh shit!"

Joker pitched down and narrowly avoided it. Another piece of wreckage drifted into view and after a large amount of manoeuvres Joker managed to pull out of the debris field.

Shepard and Joker looked out at the massive expanse of wreckage beneath them. Tali came up behind Shepard and gasped.

"I guess we know what happened to everyone who went through Relay" Tali said quietly

"Look, over there" Shepard said, gesturing toward a huge cylindrical formation of rock

"I've never seen a planet like that" Joker said as he moved out of the way of what appeared to be a hull section.

"It's not a planet, look at the tech coming out of it" said Shepard

"It's a station… but it's massive" Tali said in complete awe. She was about to say more but a fit of coughing came over her, she doubled over and Shepard raced to her side.

"I'm ok…" she said

"You sure?" Shepard asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Whoa commander… never seen you rush to any ones aid like that" Joker said, he got a glare from Shepard

"ok, ok sorry I just… what the hell?" Joker said as he squinted into the debris field.

Three objects were flying towards them "Oh shit!" he yelled and pulled into evasive manoeuvers, the drones fired at them but the new armour made sure the blast didn't puncture the hull.

"Good thing we upgraded" Shepard said as he grabbed onto the back of Jokers chair to steady himself.

"I have to lose them in the debris field!" Joker yelled.

A drone flew straight at them but Joker pitched up, however he didn't go high enough, the drone burst into the cargo hold.

"I'll take a team to hit that drone" Shepard said as he turned and ran to the elevator, gesturing to Tali to follow him.

The Normandy pitched down into the debris field and Joker did his best to avoid the hulking pieces of metal.

"Kinetic barriers at %40 strength" EDI said as her holographic image appeared on the pedestal next to Joker.

"Let's hope the new shields hold up" Joker said, pulling up to avoid yet another piece of wreckage.

A blood curdling screech rang through the ship as a sheet of metal scraped down the Normandys side.

"Jeff, Shepard has managed to scare off the drone" said EDI

"Good"

The Normandy turned around a giant piece of twisted metal; one of the drones collided with it and exploded. Joker flew in between two hull sections that were rapidly closing in on each other; the Normandy scraped the edges on its way through. The drone was not as quick and lost the rear half, it lost power and drifted off into the wreckage.

"Hostile detected!" said EDI

"What?" Joker said as he brought up a hologram of the Normandy, it showed a drone cutting its way into the cargo hold "That thing again, this one's up to Shepard"

A few minutes later Shepard came running through, his armour had a few scratches and burn marks.

"How are we doing" He asked

"Looks like they're sending out an old friend to greet us" Joker said, pointing towards a collector ship that was rapidly going towards them.

"Let's show em our new teeth. Fire the main gun!" Shepard yelled.

Joker deployed the main gun and fired, it tore right through the collector ship. Joker dodged a few shots and fired again. The collector ship broke in half and began to explode.

"Yeah! How do like that ya sons of bitches!" he yelled.

The collector ship exploded and produced a shockwave strong enough to knock out the Normandys systems.

"We're going down, brace for impact!" Joker yelled as the Normandy flew into the Collector base and skidded along its surface, slowing down and coming to a halt.

"Everyone all right?" Shepard asked as he stood up.

"Eugh… I think I broke a rib… or all of them" Joker said as he straightened himself in his chair.

"Assemble everyone in the briefing room" Shepard said as he helped Tali up.

After a brief talk and electing people to do specified tasks whilst on the Collector base they headed out and began their mission to destroy the base.

An hour later they came across a huge chamber filled with collector stasis pods, upon checking the nearby pods they were found to have the Normandys crew, they broke open the pods and saved everyone. Shepard sent Mordin to escort them back to the Normandy and chose Samara to protect himself, Garrus and Tali through a chamber filled with swarmer's.

After another hour of slowly making their way through the chamber they came upon one last room, Shepard sent everyone with the exception of Garrus and Tali to guard the door. They proceeded into a chamber witch contained the seemingly non-functional chassis of a human Reaper.

Tali began coughing and doubled over again, Garrus steadied her and asked "You alright?"

"Yeah, just have a small fever" she replied, shooting a glance at Shepard who was rigging the base to explode.

A squad of collectors jumped them and they were forced to defeat them. During the fight a stray shot from Garrus hit the supports holding the Human-Reaper in place, the Reaper fell into the abyss below them and Shepard resumed rigging the explosion.

"Shepard?" Tali asked

"Yeah?" Shepard replied

"Why pick Legion to open the door when I could have done just as well?"

"Because I wanted you with me… where I know you're safest" he said and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Garrus' Omni-tool lit up.

"Illusive man wants to talk" he said

"Shut him off" Shepard said and primed the charges "We have 10 minut…" he was cut off by a huge hand grabbing on to the platform.

The human reaper heaved itself up and fired a massive electrical charge from its mouth. They trio took cover, Shepard pulled out his M-920 Cain but it had no ammo, he grunted and tossed it to his side.

"Shepard!" he heard Garrus yell "Catch!" the Turian threw a power cell. Shepard caught it, picking up his Cain he slapped in the cell and took aim. The charge flew slowly towards the reaper, entering its eye socket.

The noise was deafening, the reapers head exploded sending shards of metal flying, the platform lost power and began to fall, Tali and Shepard slid about on the metal floor whilst Garrus clung on to his cover. Shepard tried to grab Talis hand but she slid too far away, he glanced down and saw the rapidly approaching floor. He closed his eyes.

Shepard looked up; the ceiling was an ugly brown. He blinked a few times and sat up. He heard a grunt and looked to his left. Garrus was pushing some wreckage off of himself; Shepard looked around frantically until he saw the purple, black and gold suit underneath a sheet of metal. Shepard got up and ran over, pushing the sheet of metal off Tali.

"Tali…?" he said.

"I… I'm fine" she said and sat up. Shepard smiled and helped her up.

"We gotta go!" Garrus yelled as collectors landed nearby.

Shepard looked around for his weapon; it was nowhere to be seen. He turned and ran after Garrus and Tali as weapon fire whizzed past them. Shepard sprinted through the maze of corridors and tunnels, he followed Tali and Garrus. As they were approaching the exit, the Normandy rose up and opened the airlock; Joker came out with a gun and gave them cover fire. Garrus and Tali jumped aboard, an explosion pushed the Normandy away slightly. An energy beam grazed Shepards face and he stumbled. He ran as fast as he could and leapt toward the Normandy, he came short but managed to grab the edge.

"Shepard!" Tali screamed and grabbed his arm.

She pulled as hard as she could and managed to pull him up. They fell to the floor panting; Joker ran back inside and flew the Normandy away.

Shepard put a hand to the side of his face and winced as he touched burnt flesh.

"Shepard…" Tali said as she examined his face, he stood up and walked to the med-bay.

"Are you ok?" he asked her.

"I'm fine; I'm just worried about you"

"I'm fine, Chakwas will patch me up fine"

The Normandy lurched forward as the Collector base exploded.

"Is everyone alright!" Shepard yelled as he steadied himself.

"All crew accounted for, Shepard" said EDI

"Then let's get outta here, it's over"


	6. Chapter 6

Shepard sat down on the bed, Chakwas looked over his face.

"You were lucky, a few more inches to the right and you would have lost your eye" Chakwas said to him "Tali are you ok?" she said as she turned to Tali who was standing nearby nervously wringing her hands.

"Oh… yeah I'm fine" she said, trying to be inconspicuous

"Aah… I see" said Chakwas as she injected Medi-gel into the side of Shepards face "you should be better in about a week" she said and left Tali and Shepard to themselves.

Tali walked over and sat next to Shepard and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I thought I lost you" she said

"Not when I have you" said Shepard as he pulled her in for a hug.

Tali gave a small laugh.

Shepard looked around, the med-bay was quiet, no one but them. He glanced out the med-bay window; Garrus, Grunt and Mordin were all looking in. Shepard glared at them and they walked off.  
They sat like that for what felt like hours, occasionally interrupted by a fit of coughing by Tali.

Tali finally looked up and said "I think everyone knows about us"

Shepard nodded slowly "We made it rather obvious"

"Well at least we can do this in public" Tali said, nudging into the crook of his neck, being careful not to touch his burn.

* * *

Shepard and Tali walked through the Citadel hand in hand towards the Darkstar lounge bar. Shepard had told the crew to meet him there for celebrations. As they walked they caught glimpses from people they walked past. It was highly unusual for a Quarian to be seen with another species in the way Tali and Shepard were. Tali caught some sneers from racists and jealous glares from girls who obviously had a thing for Shepard. Tali ignored them and continued through into the bar, they sat down at a table with Garrus, Grunt, Zaeed, Jack and Miranda.

"You two are terrible at being discreet" said Miranda as she looked at Tali and Shepards linked hands.

"We stopped trying" said Tali

"You two are adorable" Jack said as she threw her legs up onto the table.

"I'm not one for relationships Shepard, but what if she turns on you" Zaeed said as he downed a glass of beer.

"Maybe I will, he'll never know" Tali said as she leaned against Shepard.

"I'm happy that you two found each other, especially before hitting the base" said Garrus

"Gives you one more thing to fight for" Shepard said, putting his arm around Tali.

"Hehe… who would've thought Cerberus would have committed so many resources to one man" Garrus said cheerfully

"Cerberus" spat Miranda "I owe you an apology Shepard, I guess the whole, fight for humanities best interest campaign brainwashed me into thinking Cerberus was the only hope for the galaxy. You showed me otherwise"

"A toast…" said Garrus as he raised his glass "to the biggest mistake Cerberus ever made"

"And what is that?" asked Shepard

"You"

A chuckle spread around the table and the other tables where the other crew members were sitting.

"I remember when Cerberus was just a small terrorist group" chimed Tali "When the only people they killed were themselves" she sighed "But now the Illusive Man has them planning a 'future for humans'. So they send you off to defeat the collectors and save a lot of colonies. Do you really think they want to defeat the Reapers?"

"I don't know" replied Shepard

Several hours and many beers later Garrus was laughing at anything mildly funny, Grunt had gone off somewhere and Jack and Miranda were in fierce drinking contest.

"Can the cheerleader hold seven glasses before she hurls?" Jack said staring intensely into Miranda's eyes. Garrus who was very drunk began laughing hysterically at the insult.

"Only if you can live up to your reputation and continue" Miranda shot back

Garrus laughed even harder, doubling over as he did so.

Tali had long since passed out on the table making adorable little snoring sounds. Shepard had admitted to himself that he'd had enough as well and had stopped drinking, he managed to calm Garrus down.

A young looking Asari came over to their table, she looked very nervous.

"Um… Commander Shepard? Would… would you dance with me?" she asked.

Garrus went back into his fit of laughter, banging his fist on the table.

Miranda chuckled and said "you obviously haven't seen Shepard dance"

"It'll scar your very soul" Jack said.

Garrus began beating the table even harder and began to run out of breath.

The Asari looked confused and Shepard decided to get rid of her by planting a kiss on Talis head. The Asari looked heartbroken and turned around and ran off. Shepard looked over at Garrus who was shaking; his face was screwed up in laughter although no sound came from his mouth.

He had run out of breath but was still laughing. After a few tense minutes he began to breathe normally.

"Definitely time to go" Shepard said as he tried to wake Tali. Everyone was clearing out and Shepard failed to wake her. He picked her up and carried her out, once back on the Normandy he took her up to his cabin. He laid her on the bed and got EDI to run a decontamination program. Shepard went down to the Med-bay and got some Dextro friendly head ache pills. When he got back to the cabin he sterilized himself, changed out of his uniform and got into bed next to Tali.

"Shepard, decontamination complete" said EDI. Shepard gently removed Talis visor and ran his thumb along her cheek.

* * *

Tali woke up; everything wasn't tinted purple as it normally was. She looked around for her visor; she turned over and met some ones lips. Shepard's lips.

She calmed down, realizing she was in his cabin. He would've run a sterilization program on the room. She pulled away and rubbed her head. It throbbed violently.

"Here" said Shepard as he handed her a migraine pill and a glass of water "You are so cute when you're asleep… well… drunkenly passed out" he said looking at her. She smiled.

"What time is it?" she asked

"10 00 hours" he said.

"You waited for me to wake up that long?" she said.

Shepard usually woke up around 06 00.

"Didn't want to open the door and let you get sick" he said smiling at her, he handed back her visor and walked over to the door. Once she put her visor back on Shepard opened the door. They went down to the crew deck for breakfast and continued their day, fixing damage to the Normandy and stripping it of Cerberus bugs.

* * *

Tali stood in the elevator; she was going to Shepard's cabin for something he had set up. She walked off and entered his cabin, the door locked itself behind her and she heard the decontamination program begin. Shepard walked over and gave her a hug, he was wearing the N7 hoodie she had found in a store on Illium, she had bought it for him. He led her over to the couch where a plate with some food was sitting on the table.

"What's all this?" Tali asked

"Just something special for my girl" Shepard said as he led her to the couch.

"How sweet… how am I supposed to eat Levo-food?" she asked.

"Wait for the room to decontaminate, I sorted out some Turian cuisine for you"

"How expensive?" she asked

"Doesn't matter, you deserve this" Shepard said as he walked over to his drawers.

"Decontamination complete, Shepard" said EDI.

Shepard opened up the bottom drawer and pulled out a metal container. He brought it over to the table and opened it. He pulled out a plate of delicious looking meat and salad.

"How did you get this?" Tali said in awe.

"There's a guy on Illium that specialises in this sort of thing. What's even better is that none of it is vat grown" Shepard said as he sat down.

"You are the best, Shepard" Tali said as she undid the clasps holding her visor on, she pulled her visor off and pushed back her hood, letting the rest of the helmet auto retract. She picked up a knife and fork and cut off a piece of meat, she bit into it and moaned as the flavour spread across her tongue.

"Good?" asked Shepard

"Amazing" replied Tali

"Good. That was expensive beyond belief and if that asshole ripped me off" Shepard said as he began his meal.

"You would blow up his business" said Tali. They shared a laugh. Something Shepard did quite rarely.

After their meal they lay down on the bed next to each other.

"Watch this" Shepard said and pushed a button. A section of the ceiling right above them slid back, a beautiful expanse of stars and nebulae came into view. Tali gasped at the sheer beauty of it all.

"It's… beautiful…" said Tali, awestruck.

"Not as beautiful as you" Shepard said as he rested his head on hers.

"Nawww" Tali said and planted a kiss on his cheek.

His burn had almost completely healed by now.

They lay there for a few minutes until Shepard leaned over and picked up a bowl of something. He placed it in between them.

"Try one" he said

"Are you sure I can eat them?" Tali said looking at one closely

"I did some research, they are completely neutral. We can both eat them"

"What are they?" Tali asked

"They're called, strawberries, except these have been dipped in chocolate" Shepard said as he tossed one into his mouth.

Tali took a small bite and shivered with pleasure as the taste flourished over her tongue.

"Glad you like them" Shepard said as he picked on up and popped it in Talis mouth. She did the same to him.

"These are sooooo good" she said

"Why do you think I got them?" Shepard said, letting her take a bite out of one then finishing off the rest. After a few more minutes the bowl was empty. Tali sighed in disappointment and Shepard placed the bowl back down beside the bed.

Tali fidgeted with her suit which had bunched up slightly and was rather uncomfortable.

"You know you can take it off if you want" said Shepard

"Haha… I know you want to see me walk around topless but I'd rather have something to wear" Tali said poking him in the ribs.

"You can wear this" said Shepard as he sat up and took off his hoodie.

"Ok" Tali said and began undoing her suit, she tossed the final pieces of the suits torso section to the floor and grabbed Shepard's hoodie, and she pulled it on and zipped it up. It was a bit big but it was warm and smelled like Shepard, a sort of musty whiskey like smell. She felt like it would protect her from anything. She lay back down next to Shepard and laid her hand across his stomach and her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat and she snuggled right into him. Shepard laid his head on hers and put an arm around her, pulling her close.

Together they watched the stars go by through the skylight.

"You need a name" said Shepard

"I have a name" said Tali in slight confusion.

"I mean a special name, one that only I will call you" Shepard said and let out a chuckle.

"Oh… well what would you call me?" asked Tali, looking up at him. Shepard thought for a minute, mumbling a few unintelligible words.

"Cutie…?" he said

"really… that's all you could come up with, you call me cute on a daily basis" she said, looking disappointed.

"No… wait… Angel" he said and pulled her close. Angel, she liked the sound of it. "It suits you perfectly" Shepard said and planted a kiss on her head.

"Angel" she said "I love it" she pulled his head down to hers and gave him a long kiss.

She snuggled right into him and he pulled her in closely, with his arm around her, his heartbeat in her ear and the stars above them, Tali closed her eyes and drifted into sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you guys liked the previous chapter, I decided to add some extra fluff just for the hell of it! As usual reviews are very much appreciated and i will use any suggestions you send my way! Enjoy!**

* * *

Shepard glanced around the dark room; the pale blue glow coming from the fish tank illuminated the model ship display. Shepard felt a weight on him; he looked down and saw Tali, head on his chest and hand on his stomach. Fast asleep. Shepard smiled and gently slid out from under her, she gently grabbed his hand in her sleep. Shepard placed a kiss on her cheek and walked over to his armour and clothes locker. He put on a fresh pair of clothes and sat next to Tali.

She was still wearing his hoodie. Shepard gently stroked her hair, she smiled in response. Shepard sat next to here for a few more minutes. He looked at his alarm clock, four in the morning. He didn't want to leave the room in case contaminants got in and made Tali sick. He walked over to the table and looked over the plates that were left over from last night's dinner. There were a few pieces of food left on his plate, he finished it off but was still hungry. Talis plate still had food; he eyed it wondering how much he could eat without getting sick. He knew he could eat small amounts of Dextro based products, something he had found out when he and Tali shared more passionate kisses. He grabbed a fork and stabbed a small piece of meat. He placed it in his mouth and slowly began chewing.

His mouth hadn't swollen and he hadn't started coughing so he decided to swallow. He waited a few minutes to see if he could digest it properly. It didn't come back up so he decided to eat another few mouthfuls. He sat on the couch, leaving the rest for Tali who was still asleep on the bed making an adorable little snore. He waited another two hours before Tali woke up. She yawned and stretched.

"Morning beautiful" said Shepard smiling at her

"Morning" Tali said, returning the smile

"There's some food left if you want it"

"Please"

Tali got off the bed and sat next to Shepard, she grabbed her plate and ate what was left.

"I'm sure there was more leftover" she said when she finished

"I… may have tried some"

"What… are you ok? You shouldn't have done that! You could've died!" Tali said as she looked at Shepard worriedly.

"I'm fine… I can eat a little Dextro food without getting sick"

"You better be fine" Tali said as she sank down next to Shepard and leaned into him. She threw her legs up on the couch and laid her head in his lap. He gave her a gentle smile. She closed her eyes as he brought his head close to hers, just as he was about connect his lips with hers, a fit of coughing racked her body. She sat up abruptly, accidentally head butting him. Shepard withdrew, clutching his nose. Tali threw her hand over mouth trying to contain her coughs. They kept coming and she was finding hard to make space for breathing. She reached into one of her many pockets and pulled out a syringe, she carefully placed the needle into her forearm and pushed down on the plunger. The colourless liquid spread quickly through her blood stream and she regained control over her coughing. Shepard had sat up and retrieved the pieces of Talis suit from around the room. He quickly ran back over and took his hoodie off of Tali. He began helping Tali piece together her suit as quickly as possible. Once her suit had been pieced together Tali activated her helmet. She picked up her visor and gave Shepard a quick kiss. She put her visor back on and began running a toxin filter. She and Shepard sat back down on the couch, looking at each other.

"Thought you had… adjusted to me" Shepard said with a sigh of relief.

"Almost… give me another few weeks and I will be able walk around you without this damned suit for… forever" said Tali, leaning back into Shepard.

"But only around me"

"Yes"

Shepard sighed. He longed to be able to kiss his girlfriend in public, to be able to feel her skin on his as they walked the Normandy. He wanted to extend their physical relationship to outside the confines of his quarters. Someday, after all this Reaper business had been dealt with, he would find a way for Tali to walk aboard the Normandy without the need of her damned suit.

Shepard leaned into her and they sat there, only interrupted by an occasional cough from Tali. Shepard put his arm around her and held her close. Shepard heard his stomach grumble, what he had eaten earlier hadn't satisfied him enough. He looked over at Tali and raised an eyebrow, she understood what the signal meant and nodded sadly. They got up and walked to the elevator, when they reached the CIC Shepard kissed the top of Talis visor and stepped off the elevator. Tali hit the button for the engineering deck and disappeared. Shepard turned and walked past Kelly who gave him a smile; he returned it and walked towards Joker who spun his seat around.

"Hey Commander! What's on the memo for today" Joker said, rather cheerfully

"You're awful happy today Joker. What happened" Shepard said, crossing his arms and smiling.

"Well I actually got a good night's sleep. I don't know what you did last night but I didn't hear you guys at all"

"Not following"

"Oooh… no one has told you yet… well this is embarrassing" said Joker as he looked at EDIs hologram.

"Tell me" said Shepard dropping his smile.

"EDI you tell him" said Joker

"I will do my best to put it in non-offensive terms" said EDI "Shepard, you are aware that the Normandy doesn't have sound proof rooms. The sound of Tali'Zorah and you making love carries quite easily throughout the ship"

Shepard drew a blank look; he had never considered how loud he and Tali were. Shepard cleared his throat.

"Carry on" he said and walked away.

Joker was barely stifling a laugh. Shepard walked to the Galaxy map and plotted a course for Omega.

"Can't believe that worked" said Joker as he spun back around to pilot the Normandy

"I think I can get used to this form of humour. I honestly thought pulling that kind of 'prank' on Shepard wouldn't fool him. Judging by the emotion he displayed and his body temperature, he was genuinely embarrassed" said EDI

"Are the rooms here sound proof?" asked Joker

"Yes… your secret is safe with me"

"Wait what… there are bugs in the cargo hold?"

"There are security devices everywhere, Jeff"

Joker swallowed.

"We prank Shepard then you kill the mood with that. Thanks" said Joker

Shepard browsed through the market. He was looking for industrial level paint stripper. He, Garrus and Jacob were planning on stripping the Cerberus logos off of the Normandy. Shepard walked into a store; he saw Garrus in another aisle and walked over to the other end of the store. As he looked through various paint strippers he thought about what Joker and EDI had said. Could the crew really hear everything he and Tali did? He tried wiping the thoughts from his mind and focussed on finding the paint stripper. He failed to shift his focus and decided to ask Garrus. He went to the aisle he last saw Garrus who was still looking over the items. Shepard bit his lip and nervously walked over.

"Uuh… Garrus…" He said

"Mm hmmm?" Garrus said in reply

"Some nights… can you… uuh…" said Shepard, his cheeks going red "Can you hear… anything that Tali and I do?"

"Nope. Why?"

Shepard groaned in frustration. "Joker and EDI said that the entire ship could hear"

"Nope… all rooms are sound proof. Actually only EDI would see and hear everything that you and Tali did together" said Garrus as he moved along to another shelf "Dammit… why can't all stores be automated, aisles are so confusing"

"Wait why would EDI see and hear…"

"We haven't stripped your cabin of surveillance bugs yet"

A look of dread came over Shepards face.

"We can do that today if you want" said Garrus

"Uuh… no Tali and I can take care of it"

"Don't want anyone seeing the sexual endeavours you two get up to?"

Shepard nodded slowly.

"Ah… found it! I found it everybody!" yelled Garrus, holding up a can of paint stripper.

"Is it heavy duty?"

"Yes… and a bunch of other things to, I'll spare you the details but this brand can strip paint really fast… Jacob and I can handle it, you and Tali can debug your cabin if want"

"Ok… I'll see you in a few hours then. Jacob is somewhere around here, find him and take care of the logos and I'll see you at lunch"

"Sounds like a plan… and have fun" said Garrus, nudging Shepard.

Shepard walked back to the Normandy and headed straight for the elevator, giving Joker a look as he passed. He headed for engineering. He walked into the engineering room and asked the engineers where Tali was.

"In the vents" replied Gabby

"She was the only one small enough and had an environmental suit" replied Kenny

"When will she be out?"

"A few minutes" said Tali over the comm "Where was the pipe again?"

"Three meters to your right" said Gabby

"Ok… ugh… it's really hot and tight… I see it. Pass me the replacement"

Talis hand popped out from between two pipes. Shepard picked up the replacement part and handed it to her.

"Thank you *coughing*"

"Haven't gotten over that cough yet?" said Shepard as he leaned against the pipes

"It's been a few hours… of course I haven't. No matter how we spend our nights together it's going to take me a while to adjust to you… last night was nice though" said Tali as she began the repairs.

"Ooh" said Kenny "Had a little fun did we?"

"Not in the way you'd think" said Shepard, crossing his arms "Dinner for two"

"Then a nice lie down under the stars" said Tali, dreamily

"Awwwww…" said Gabby "Tali your lucky to have Shepard"

"No… I'm lucky to have her" said Shepard

"That's sweet… ok repair is finished I'm coming out" said Tali

A few minutes later Tali wriggled out from an open duct and stood up, brushing herself off.

"Tali would you help me remove the bugs from our room" said Shepard

"Sure… wait our room?"

"Yes… our room" said Shepard taking a step closer to her.

"Sounds you guys are taking another step in your relationship" said Gabby

"That we are. Tali I can only trust you to help. The surveillance bugs are still active and have probably recorded some of our more… ugh… exciting times together"

The engineers laughed whilst Tali and Shepard blushed.

"Let's go" said Tali

Shepard went over his bedside table with his Omni-tool; it detected three bugs which he destroyed. He picked up the remains and tossed them on a pile on the table. He arched his back; he had spent most of the time on his knees. He heard a rapid gasping and moans come from across the room. He looked over and it suddenly stopped.

"Sorry" said Tali as she closed a surveillance file on her Omni-tool "Do I… really sound like that?"

Shepard nodded and gave a smile. After a few more hours they were finally convinced that they had removed all bugs from the room, Tali and Shepard sat down on the couch, admiring the pile of smashed bugs on the table. Tali rested her head on Shepards shoulder and gave a small cough.

"I can't wait for the day you can be around me without getting sick" said Shepard

"Me too. I want to be with you forever, even if it means having to get sick. I'm even willing to leave the fleet for you" said Tali, snuggling into him.

Shepard rested his head on Talis "So I stopped you from being exiled for nothing?"

"I guess so"

Shepard's stomach grumbled, he was starving.

"Hungry?" said Tali, sitting up

"Starved"

"Let's go then"

Shepard stood up and walked to the elevator, he waited for Tali to scoop up the pile of smashed bugs and stand next to him.

"What you planning to do?" asked Shepard, gesturing towards the pile in Talis arms

"I'll see if I can repurpose them… or pick them over for parts and sell them"

Shepard pushed the button for the crew deck, after a brief ride Shepard stepped off leaving Tali behind, who cleared her throat. Shepard turned around and looked at her.

"I'm going to drop these off at my station then come back up. Can you get the button? Arms are full"

Shepard pushed the button for engineering and turned around to walk off to the kitchen. Garrus was almost finished with his meal; he waved over to Shepard who waved back. Shepard picked up a tray of food from the counter and sat across from his friend.

"Took you long enough. What have you been doing?" asked Garrus

"There were more bugs in our room than you'd think" replied Shepard

"Right… either that or you and Tali had a little midday fun"

Shepard rolled his eyes. Ever since the fact that he and Tali became a couple everyone had managed to make remarks about it. Shepard dug into his food; Miranda stepped out of her office and walked over to the kitchen.

"Garrus, Shepard" she said as she walked past, avoiding eye contact

Garrus and Shepard nodded. Miranda picked up a small plate of food and walked back to her office.

"You want to join us or…" said Shepard as she quickly walked past and into her office "Uuh… ok then"

"Shepard you are so oblivious" said Garrus, leaning forward

"To what exactly" replied Shepard, confused

"Miranda is or was interested in you"

"Really?"

Garrus nodded, a look of confusion came over Shepards face. Garrus rolled his eyes and finished off his meal. As he finished it, Tali walked out of the elevator and joined them at the table.

"Hello Angel" said Shepard, smiling at Tali as she sat down next to him

"Now it's pet names" said Garrus "And I thought you two couldn't get anymore…"

"Romantic" said Shepard

"More like adorable" said Tali, grabbing Shepards hand

"Right… uuh… anyway, are you going to have anything Tali?" asked Garrus

"Not too hungry at the moment. So what are we talking about?"

Shepard looked down at his meal.

"We were talking about Miranda's interest in Shepard" said Garrus "And how he failed to pick up on all the signs"

"He is pretty hopeless when it comes to girls" said Tali, gently elbowing Shepard in the ribs

"He did fine with Ashley" sad Garrus, he ducked in time to dodge the fork that Shepard had suddenly thrown

"She got me drunk… I didn't know what I was doing" said Shepard, his tone was almost murderous.

Everyone knew that Ashley had tricked Shepard. Everyone believed they were together at first but when everyone began to notice how unhappy Shepard was they began to wonder. Ever since Horizon, Shepard made it well-known that he was never happy with his brief relationship with Ashley.

"I… I'm sorry Shepard I didn't realise you were still upset over that" mumbled Garrus.

Shepard and Garrus rarely became angry at each other. Even then it wasn't as bad as what had just happened.

"Upset? I am f…" Shepard tried not to swear in front of the crew "I am furious at her. She used me for own damn needs and then…"

Shepard took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry let's just… change the subject. Garrus what are you going to do for the rest of day?" asked Shepard, beginning to calm down.

"I have some free time… so um… if you two would like to join me?" replied Garrus

"We would love to" said Tali, holding Shepards hand

Shepard nodded and stood up, he walked to the elevator and went up to his cabin. He stepped into the bathroom and splashed water over his face; he had to clear his mind of any thoughts of Ashley. He would forgive her in time, but at the current moment it was still too early. He undressed and turned on the shower.

Tali always wondered why Shepard didn't just leave Ashley; whenever she asked him about it he deflected the question.

"Give him an hour… he'll be fine" Tali told Garrus.

"Yeah… I have some calibrations I should finish up so let me know when he's ok" he replied

* * *

**As i mentioned at the start, REVIEWS! Can't get enough of them! Hope you guys are still enjoying these :D**


	8. Chapter 8

Shepard told himself that he shouldn't have been so soft when it came to Ashley, he should've told her to back off when she started saying they were together. Shepard stood out of the shower and threw on a fresh pair of clothes. He hadn't noticed Tali standing in the doorway.

"How long have you been there?" he asked her

"Few minutes" she replied "I need to tell you something"

"What?"

"You need to forgive her… stop worrying about her; I don't care about what happened between you two. I know a lot of people are getting tired of not being able to talk about Ashley to you… myself included. Shepard… please get over her. For me" Tali walked over and hugged Shepard.

"I will" he replied, softly "for you"

* * *

Shepard ducked under a low obstacle, running towards a crate. He hid behind it, he popped his head out from behind cover. A sniper shot narrowly missing him. He looked over at Tali and Garrus who were hiding behind another crate. They had been sent to take down a small mercenary group planning to drop chemical and disease attacks over Omega. Shepard listened for movement; the warehouse they were in was completely silent. He looked at the walkways above them, no one. He risked moving, nothing. He felt it was safe to move freely. He gestured to the others to follow him. They moved past crates and support pillars, after a few minutes Shepard put down his gun and forced a crate open. He read the label on the canister inside. Bacteria, Fungi and Viruses of many varieties. Enough to kill a small population.

"There are thousands of these here?" Garrus exclaimed.

"More incentive to stop these madmen" said Tali, looking amongst other crates.

"We have to stop them, move out!" said Shepard

A sniper shot hit the canister, a red haze spilled from it.

"Helmets!" Shepard yelled as he pulled on his helmet.

Garrus did the same and they took cover once more. Shepard scanned the room for the shooter. He couldn't locate him. After several tense minutes the trio heard a mechanical whirring. They looked out from their hiding places to see the mercenary leader. Out fitted with a mech suit, he began firing upon them and laughed hysterically.

"Shepard I have an idea!" Tali yelled over the gunfire

"What is it?" Shepard yelled back

"I'll sneak up behind him and plant a mine on him!"

"What? No, you're crazy!" Shepard yelled, Tali ran off "Tali no!"

"Keep his attention on you!" she replied and ran off between some crates.

The air was thick with red now. Several more canisters had been blown open and Shepard's hardsuit indicated that mere minutes of exposure would be fatal. Shepard and Garrus poked their guns around corners and let off random shots.

After a few more minutes Shepard looked around and saw Tali sneaking up behind the merc leader. She placed the mine and took a step back but she was seen and the merc leader reached down and picked her up in the mechs massive hand.

"What do we have here? A pitiful little Quarian, you've let yourself go Shepard. I mean do you really have to resort to these for team members?" he spat, he began to crush Tali. A rapid beeping was audible and the merc looked down, the mine was flashing.

"Oh fu…"

The explosion ripped apart the suit, he went flying and began choking on the hazardous fumes around them. Shepard killed him and looked for Tali who had been blown free. After a few seconds he saw broken glass. Purple, broken glass.

Tali lay meters away, her visor had been shattered. Her eyes looked into Shepards, filled with fear, her coughs racked her body. Shepard tore off the rest of her helmet then pulled off his helmet and placed it over her head, sealing it. He picked her up and ran for the extraction point. He began to feel sick as he breathed in the disease ridden air. He began coughing as he reached the exit; he jumped on the shuttle and laid Tali on floor. She had passed out; he injected antibiotics and other medicines he could find aboard the shuttle. He cradled her head, still in his helmet. Tears were running down his cheeks. He knew he could've lasted minutes in the cloud of disease but he couldn't have known how long Tali would've lasted. Another bout of coughing overcame him and he covered his nose and mouth. When he looked at his hands they were caked in blood, he wiped underneath his nose, more blood. He looked at Tali, he couldn't see most of her face as it was obscured by his helmet. He wondered how bad she had it. Everything went blurry, and he felt shaky.

"Shepard?" Garrus asked, looking concerned "Are you ok?"

Shepard tried to nod but fell sideways, his head hitting the shuttle floor. Everything began to go dark.

"Shepard! Get this thing moving!" Garrus yelled to the driver

* * *

Shepard glanced around the white room, everything was blurry.

"Shepard? Commander?" Chakwas' voice was distant

Shepard shook his head and everything sharpened, he was in the med-bay.

"I'm alright" he replied as he sat up

Chakwas was stood at his bedside; she was wearing an enviro-suit.

"Why are you in that?" he asked

"Well… Tali" she replied, looking across the room.

Shepards memory returned, his eyes widened and he lept of the bed. He ran over to Tali, she was unconscious; her face was visible beneath a breather mask. Shepard pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Her heart stopped four times on the past hour. I've done everything I could for her" said Chakwas, a hand on Shepards shoulder.

"How long have I been out?" he asked

"Two days"

"How many times has her heart stopped in total?"

"I'd rather you didn't know"

Shepard nodded and forced down tears. He pulled up a chair and sat by Tali.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Can't say… we have to hope for the best. There is a decontamination unit just past the door, I advise you use it when you leave. I don't know if you are completely healthy yet, don't want you infecting anyone else" said Chakwas as she opened the door.

Shepard sat by Tali for what seemed like hours. He was ready for anything that might happen. He watched the heart monitor, praying it wouldn't flat line. At some point he drifted off and awoke to find himself on the floor. He sat up and looked at Talis still motionless body. He knew she was fighting the best she could, but Shepard began to wonder if it would be enough. He planted a kiss on her forehead and sat beside her again. His stomach growled. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten.

He looked through the med-bay window and saw a few crew-members eating and talking. He looked back at Tali, wondering if he should risk going out for food. What if something happened to her? It would only be a few minutes. He took a deep breath and sprinted outside, ignoring the decontamination unit. He threw open the kitchen cupboards and grabbed a box of crackers, he ran back and waited through the decontamination cycle. After it completed he ran to Talis side, she was as he left her. He sat down beside her again and opened the box. He finished the crackers in minutes. He was still hungry but pushed aside the feeling, he was scared. He wondered if Talis immune system could handle the massive assortment of diseases she had inhaled. The lights dimmed as EDI switched the Normandy into its 'night time' shift.

The lights on the machine keeping Tali alive glowed. Tubes led from the machines to her forearm, liquids of many colours flowing into her veins. As Shepard wiped a tear from his cheek he noticed the light in the corner.

"Shepard Commander?" it said

Shepard wiped his face, clearing them of tears.

"Yes… Hello Legion"

"Do you or Creator Zorah require assistance?"

"Can you cure her?"

"Processing… negative, only a high amount of antibiotics, immuno-boosters and medicinal supplements will give her a chance of survival"

"Thanks for trying…" Shepard sighed

"We will return to the AI core" said Legion as he walked back through the door to the AI core

Shepard sighed and kissed Talis hand, he had never been this afraid of anything. Losing her was the worst thing he could imagine. The Reapers had been replaced with Tali, the only thing he could think of.

Shepard drifted off and awoke to find the room lit, someone was at a desk behind him.

"Ah, Commander, glad to see you're awake" chimed Chakwas, she wasn't wearing an enviro-suit. Shepard looked at Tali; her visor was back in place. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"How is she doing?" he asked

"Latest readings show that she will make a full recovery"

"That quickly?"

"As it seems"

Shepard was amazed, he didn't think Tali would be well this soon.

"Can we wake her up?" he asked, hopefully

"Yes, I was waiting for you. I will administer a small adrenal shot and that should pull her out of the coma I induced"

Shepard let a small laugh escape his lips; he was overjoyed at the news. He waited whilst Chakwas rummaged through a cabinet. Pulling out a small glass jar she came over to one of the machines that was plugged into Tali. She placed the jar into a compartment which sealed. Then a colourless liquid began flowing through one of the tubes. Shepard held Talis hand, he felt her move. He smiled and squeezed her hand, she squeezed back yet harder. Talis body began to shake and jerk about.

"Oh dear…" exclaimed Chakwas

Shepard tried to pull his hand away from Talis but she held him in an iron grip. His hand began to ache under the pressure, Tali was strong but not that strong. One of her arms flailed wildly and smacked Chakwas across the face, she stumbled and her head hit the edge of the table, she slumped to the floor. Shepard held Tali down but her violent movements kept flinging him off her. He called out for help and an officer outside ran towards the gun battery. Shepard tried to reach the machine feeding the liquid into Tali but he couldn't reach it. He yelled out as he heard a snap come from his hand. The pain was almost unbearable.

"Tali… if you can hear me… you need to stop!" Shepard yelled between gasps of pain as the bones in his hand broke one by one.

She showed no signs of response and Shepard screamed as he felt another bone break. He heard the door open and Garrus' voice.

"Garrus! Get the machine!" Shepard yelled through his pain.

His head began to spin and with a click Talis grip on him ceased. He gasped and cradled his now mangled hand.

"Shepard?"

Shepard looked up, Tali was bolt upright. She seemed perfectly normal.

"What happened to you?" she asked

"You… wouldn't let go of my hand" he replied

"What happened here?" asked Garrus

"Chakwas… she tried to wake Tali up but… I don't know" replied Shepard; Tali had her arms around him.

"Chakwas is out cold, let's look at your hand" said Garrus, concerned as to what just happened.

Shepard laid his hand on one of the beds. Tali gasped at the sight. His hand was mangled beyond recognition; a bit of bone was protruding from one of his knuckles. Tali went into a fit and hugged him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry" she cried into his shoulder

Shepard and Garrus gave each other a look. It wasn't like Tali to throw a fit over something that was completely out of her control.

"Tali, you do know this isn't your fault" Shepard told her.

She nodded, still sobbing. Shepard and Garrus shot each other another look. Definitely something wrong. As Garrus tended to Shepards hand the best he could, Shepard thought through what had just occurred. Shepard put down Talis breakdown to the shock of suddenly waking. He would ask Chakwas about what had happened with the spasm when she regained consciousness.

After a few hours Tali had retreated up to Shepards cabin, she had claimed she was tired. Chakwas had woken and was treating Shepards hand.

"So she has a spasm then wakes as if everything was alright?" asks Chakwas

Shepard nodded slowly.

"She was also very emotional when she found out what she had done, she started crying and hugging me" said Shepard, he winced as Chakwas pulled on one of his mangled fingers, straightening it.

"Very odd, and to think she was strong enough to do this to your hand, she's one of the weakest squad members aboard"

"Do you think I should perhaps ask the Migrant Fleet about this?"

"Couldn't do any harm"

Shepard nodded and waited until Chakwas was finished with his hand then took the elevator to his cabin. He waited through the decontamination process then walked in. Tali was asleep on the bed, her visor sat on the bedside table. Her face seemed peaceful, just as it was hours before. Shepard was amazed at how long ago it seemed. Only hours before he was praying for Talis life and now he was looking forward to a good night's rest. Shepard was too tired to change so he just lay next to Tali and placed a hand on her shoulder. He sighed and lay back. He felt he had a partial understanding of what Tali went through when he died. He shot another glance at her, still peaceful; he smiled sadly and looked out the skylight above them.

Tali tapped furiously at her console, she had been unable to remove the Cerberus programming in the computers. She growled and banged her fist against it. The Cerberus welcoming video began to play. She groaned and attempted to shut it down, she had managed to do this eight times today.

"Welcome to Cerberus, a pro-human group devoted to the future of mankind"

She tapped away furiously, creating hacks and deleting files. She managed to broadcast the entire vid to the whole ship. She growled and picked up a wrench. She bent over and used the wrench to pull out the cords. The video stopped broadcasting and she began trying to shut it down.

"Cerberus is headed by the Illusive Man; each research cell is overseen by an operative. You are currently a part of the Lazarus cell overseen by operative Lawson"

Talis temper was boiling, she picked up the wrench again. She screamed and slammed it against the panel. The panel bent in two and she hit it again, and again. She kept hitting it until it was a sparking wreck of mangled metal. She heard someone approaching from behind.

"Tali?"

She spun around "What?! Oh… Shepard"

"Donnelly says you seem a bit worked up, you feeling okay?" asked Shepard

Talis breathing was heavy; she looked around and saw the frightened engineers.

"I'm fine… why wouldn't I be? It's not like I have to repair a console and… and then remove the damned Cerberus programmes!" she was yelling

"Tali calm down… are you sure you're feeling okay, maybe Chakwas should take a look at you"

"Okay?" she was still yelling "Okay? Of course I'm okay why wouldn't I be? It's not like I have a million things to do! It's not like I have a bosh'tet for a boyfriend that thinks I'm crazy!"

"Tali… calm down, I didn't mean to…"

Tali started yelling in Kheelish "_La vorsta'maryo_ _oi pertu!_"

Daniels looked confused, she was sure Shepard was going to back down, but then he yells back. In Kheelish.

"_Ro farga ju kilo yo la potum hundam!_"

The couple continued arguing and the engineers grew more and more confused.

"Do you think we should leave?" asked Gabby

"No!" yelled Tali and Shepard in unison.

The argument continued for several more minutes, alternating between the common galactic language and Kheelish. Tali grew tired and was beginning to get upset. She yelled out a vicious string of what sounded like insults.

Shepard looked confused "what?"

Tali began sobbing "I… I just wanted to…" she fell down and began crying.

Shepard looked confused and sat down next to her. He embraced her and motioned for the two engineers to leave. Whilst he held Tali who buried her masked face into his chest, he sent Chakwas a message.

'_Bring something to put her to sleep'_

After a few minutes Chakwas arrived and pulled out a syringe, Tali still had her face buried in Shepard. She didn't hear Chakwas approach. She spun around when she felt the sting in her arm.

"I'm sorry…" Shepard said, sadly

Everything went blurry then darkened, she slumped into Shepards arms.


	9. Chapter 9

**Just want to highlight a small change to my writing style, single line breaks now mean a scene transition. A line of zeros however mean authors notes. That's all and I hope you guys are still enjoying these.**

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Talis vision was blurry; she looked around but failed to recognise anything around her. She felt sick. She could feel the cool air against her face. Her visor had been removed. She tried to sit up but was incredibly shaky. She steadied herself and tried to push herself off the bed, as she leant against the wall for support her vision cleared. She was in Shepard's cabin; the blue fish tank illuminated the walls. She slowly made her way over to the door, but just as she reached it she felt her stomach churn. She staggered into the bathroom and fell beside the bowl. She allowed the contents of her stomach to empty into it. She knelt next to it for a few more minutes to make sure there wasn't any more on its way up. She made her way to the door and attempted to open it, Locked. She thought for a few moments and then remembered her visor; she looked around and found it on Shepard's desk. After fitting it to her helmet she went back over to the door, still locked.

"EDI, open the door" she said, still feeling queasy

"Negative, Shepard has given me orders to keep you here" chimed EDI

"Why would he…?"

"He will explain in a few moments, he is on his way up now"

Tali sighed and sat lay down on the bed again, removing her visor. She could hear the decontamination unit outside as it destroyed any pathogens that Shepard could transmit to her. After a few more minutes she heard the door open and she sat up. Angry.

"What do you think you're doing you bosh'tet" she said sternly

Shepard kept his calm expression. He sat near her and held her hand.

"You remember the tanks filled with disease that you were exposed to" he said

Tali nodded.

"Well… one of the microbes in the tank causes serious emotional instability. However thanks to evolution, all species are now immune. Except, when Chakwas gave you the adrenal shot to bring you out of the coma, the adrenaline boosted the effects of the microbes. It… it has mutated and can now infect anyone" he said sadly

Tali took a deep breath; this was why she was so easily worked up lately.

"I… the crew… are they infected as well?" she asked

"Chakwas says that only people you have had physical contact with can get it. I'm the only other person. However I have had contact with practically everyone so the entire ship could be infected"

"Why aren't we quarantined?"

"We are… we aren't telling anybody until we have this dealt with. We put ourselves in quarantine"

Talis breathing quickened, she was panicking.

"Can this kill?"

Shepard nodded slowly. Talis breathing grew more and more rapid, she was hyperventilating.

"Tali… I need you to calm down…" Shepard said calmly

Tali felt tears run down her cheeks, she was terrified.

"Tali please… breath nice and slow… deep breaths"

Shepard hugged her and she began to calm down.

"I've ordered everyone on the ship to be calm, not start any arguments, that kind of thing. It's the only way we can avoid killing each other" Shepard said as he stroked her hair.

"So… the only way we can die is if we kill each other?" asked Tali

"Yes" responded Shepard

Tali chuckled, she was already feeling better.

"And just so you know it works the other way too. We can get really happy if someone tells a joke or makes us feel good"

"But I love you so much" said Tali as she snuggled into Shepard

"See what I mean" he said as he pulled her in

"I like this" she cooed

"I… I know… I…" Shepard said then shook his head

He gently shimmied away from Tali; he needed to make sure he and Tali didn't start having sex. Chakwas warned that any form of love could end up in sex which could last for an indeterminable amount of time, possibly resulting in exhaustion.

"Chakwas warned not to" Shepard said as he shook his head again

Tali nodded and crawled up into the bed. Feeling sad. She tried her best to sleep but she couldn't.  
A sudden jolt rocked the ship. Shepard jumped up.

"EDI what was that" he asked

"Grunt is having an emotional episode, I have locked down the port cargo hold"

"And that is why I told the crew that communication is restricted to when it is only a necessity, no break time chatter, no idle remarks. Nothing" said Shepard, carefully choosing his words.

"What do you think caused him to react like that?" Tali asked

"Not sure, could be anything" Shepard replied

"A team has tranquilised Grunt; he will be inoperable for the next 48 hours" chimed EDI

"Good" sighed Shepard as he and Tali lay back down, he had contacted Liara who was now the Shadow Broker and asked her to dig up information on the disease, hopefully one of her agents will have known of a cure.

Over the next week everyone kept a calm manner and few fights broke out. Grunt was kept unconscious after the damage he did to the cargo bay was examined.

"Almost broke out of the ship mid-flight" Joker had told Shepard

The days passed and the Normandys food and water supplies were beginning to get low. Mess Sergeant Gardener had planned on ordering more food a few days after the quarantine was ordered. Because of the sudden quarantine he was unable to do so. He had divided up the resources as best he could and everyone was on strict rations. The Dextro food supplies were suffering the most. Garrus and Tali grew more easily angered as the grew hungrier and eventually they had to be isolated.

After weeks Shepard had finally received a message from Liara. One of her agents had finally found something, a chemical that would hopefully weaken the virus to its original strength. Shepard set a course for Liaras base of operations. Once there Liara had set up a small zone outside the airlock, she had placed the crate of the chemical in the middle of it and sealed the area. Shepard stepped out and picked up the crate. He nodded to Liara through the small pane of glass in the doorway.

He gave the crate to Mordin who, with the help of Chakwas, carefully loaded syringes and injected the crew. Tali received multiple injections due to her weak immune system. The high amount of the chemical in her bloodstream made her high. Shepard took her to their cabin so she could sleep it off.

As Shepard watched over Tali to make sure she was asleep he heard a blood curdling yell come from below.

"Uuh… Commander?" said Joker over the comm "Apparently Grunt doesn't like needles

"Did they manage to inject him?" Shepard replied

"No… he's tearing the tech-lab apart! He's gone on a rampage!"

"I'm on my way"

Shepard jumped off the elevator and saw the tech-lab door buckle. Chakwas and Mordin stood near the Galaxy map.

"That door won't hold for long" said Chakwas

"Shepard, see if you can try to flank him, use this" Mordin said as he gave Shepard a syringe

Shepard nodded and ran through the armoury, he cut through into the tech-lab and quietly snuck up on Grunt who was relentlessly pounding his fists into the door. Shepard knew the needle wouldn't get past Grunts armour or natural plates. He looked Grunts fleshy neck and raised the syringe. He took a step and heard a crunch. He looked down and saw a broken syringe, he slowly looked back up. Grunt was staring him in the eye. Shepard attempted to dodge Grunts fist but wasn't fast enough, he flew across the room and collided with wall. He shook his head and cleared his vision. Grunt ran straight at him, Shepard closed his eyes raised his hands. He heard grunts yell stop and opened his eyes again. The syringe was sticking out of Grunts neck; Shepard hadn't dropped it when Grunt punched him. Shepard looked at Grunts fist only inches away from Shepards head.

"Take it out" Grunt whispered

"what was that?"

"Take it out… please" Grunt was whimpering

Shepard pulled the needle out from Grunts neck. Grunt exhaled and fell backwards; Shepard chuckled and called for Mordin and Chakwas.

"You ok Grunt?" Shepard asked as he knelt down

Grunt nodded in response.

"Commander, we should be able to lift the quarantine within a day" Chakwas said as she quickly ran a scan over Grunt.

"Good, then we can begin preparations for returning to the Alliance"

"what? Are you serious, they'll court martial us for sure, not to mention the alien squad members"

"That's why we're dropping them off beforehand"

Chakwas nodded sadly and returned to the med-bay. Shepard dreaded Talis reaction when he told her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry the last one and this one have been so short, i've been busy with schoolwork. Anyway, hope to have the next chapter at normal length!**

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Tali paced the cabin anxiously; it had been two days since they had dropped Shepard in a prison complex in a Batarian colony. Shepard was supposed to be gone for a few hours, two days later he hadn't even reported in. Tali bit her lip nervously.

"Tali get down here" Jokers voice over the comm

Tali jumped onto the elevator, she hoped for good news. As she jumped off she nodded to Kelly and continued passed.

"Tali we got something" said Joker as she approached

Joker brought up a distorted video; the sound was a jumble of stutters and high pitched bangs. But through the static she could see what appeared to be Shepard.

"Where did this come from?" she asked

"That giant asteroid over there… wait a minute… EDI is that thing moving?" Joker said, squinting out the viewport.

"Scanning… correct, thrusters mounted on the surface are propelling the asteroid. It is on a collision course with the Alpha Relay" replied EDI

"Holy shit" Joker whispered

"Shepards on that thing!" Tali yelled

"How do you know?"

"It was him in the video"

"You sure?"

"Trust me… I know"

Joker set a course for the asteroid and pulled up alongside a small group of buildings attached to the surface. Tali and Joker furiously scanned the ground below them.

"There look!" Tali yelled, pointing towards a small figure facing a hologram of what seemed to be a Reaper.

Joker carefully flew the Normandy down and opened the cargo bay; he hoped it was actually Shepard they were picking up. Tali had run down to the cargo bay.

Tali jumped off the elevator and ran towards the open cargo bay door; she looked down and saw a figure running up the ramp. As the door began to close she noticed the red stripe down the figures right arm. It was definitely Shepard. Tali leaped forward and hugged Shepard who pulled off his helmet. He planted a kiss on the top of her helmet. He looked exhausted but stood up and ran to the elevator. Tali followed and once on the CIC Shepard jumped on the galaxy map and immediately plotted a course for a nearby system.

"Shepard what's happening?" she asked

Shepard ignored her "Joker get us out of here now!" he yelled

As the Normandy sped forward and entered the Relay Shepard brought up a rear view screen. The Relay grew rapidly smaller and smaller. As Tali stood next to Shepard and watched the monitor, a huge dark shape collided with the Relay. She gasped as she witnessed the wave of energy expand from the Relay core and engulf the nearby Batarian colony.

"Three hundred thousand" Shepard whispered

"Wha… what?" Tali asked

"I just sent three hundred thousand people to their graves" Shepard said, he looked down at Tali, tears in his eyes.

Tali put her arms around him "why?"

"To delay the reaper invasion by… months at least" Shepard replied

Tali didn't know how to respond so she just continued to hug Shepard. Shepard eventually boarded the elevator and went up to his cabin. Tali notified Joker as to what happened then joined Shepard.

* * *

A week later and Shepard was almost back to his normal self. He and Tali were having dinner in their cabin. Shepard hadn't told Tali about his plans to return to the Alliance, he decided to tell her.

"Tali, I'm returning to the Alliance, tomorrow" he said

"Good, we can finally be rid of Cerberus"

"You're not coming with me"

Tali looked at Shepard, her eyes full of hurt.

"What"

"You can't come with me; they'll surely arrest me for treason. They'll also arrest you for assisting me. I don't want you exposed to that"

Tears began to roll down Talis unmasked face; Shepard put his arms around her.

"They can't take you away from me…. they can't" Tali cried

Shepard pulled her onto his lap and she cried into his shoulder. Shepard stroked her hair as she cried. After what felt like hours Tali fell asleep, Shepard picked her up and laid her on the bed, he pulled the sheets up around her chin and wiped away the rest of her tears. They quickly renewed. Shepard felt like he'd stabbed her in the back. He lay down next to her and she snuggled into him. She was doing this in her sleep. Shepard felt his eyes well up, she was doing all that she could to guilt-trip him, even in her sleep. Shepard tried to get to sleep but couldn't, any attempt at getting up was stopped by Tali grabbing him. Still asleep.

Shepard woke, Tali was snoring softly beside him. He slowly slipped out of bed, showered and changed. He waited until Tali woke so they could leave together, the next few hours would be their last together. After they had breakfast they headed to Illium where the crew was expected to leave. After everyone and their belongings had disembarked Shepard stood in the CIC, he heard footsteps coming from behind him. The only people left were Joker, Chakwas and himself. Shepard spun around to meet the Quarian.

"Tali? I thought you left" he said

"Not without saying goodbye" Tali said as she took hold of Shepards hand

Shepard smiled "We… we will have to drop you off somewhere on Earth"

"That's ok"

After they entered Earth's atmosphere the Normandy quickly pulled up at a small space port. Tali stood in the airlock with Shepard, she had few belongings and she had managed to store them in her suits many pockets. As they stepped out Tali turned to face Shepard.

"This is it" she said, holding back her tears, not that anyone would notice

Shepard nodded "Goodbye Angel"

Tali couldn't control herself and she began to sob.

Shepard pulled of his hoodie and placed it around her shoulders. Tali pulled off her visor and threw herself on Shepard. The long passionate kiss lasted for what felt like hours, drawing many glances from passers-by.

When they pulled apart they both had tears in their eyes. Shepard stepped back into the airlock and he raised his hand in a kind of wave.

"I love you"

The airlock shut and the Normandy flew off.

Tali placed her visor back on; she was definitely going to be sick from the brief exposure. She pulled Shepard's hoodie tighter around her. She rented a car and followed the Normandy. She approached an Alliance base and circled it. She eventually found the Normandy, docked. She stopped the car and looked down at the platform below.

Several armed soldiers had their weapons trained on the airlock. Shepard walked out with his hands up, one of the soldiers motioned for him to get on the ground. When he didn't move the soldier responded by shooting him in the knee. Shepard went down and Tali cried out. The soldier moved over to Shepard and began to kick him in the gut. Tali pounded her fists against the glass window. She was crying. After a few minutes someone ran out onto the platform and pushed the soldier off Shepard, he then helped Shepard up. It must've been Anderson. Tali noticed the warnings coming in over the comm.

"Repeat: Citizen, if you do not vacate the area we are permitted to open fire on your vehicle"

Tali took control and flew away from the area, and away from Shepard.


	11. Chapter 11

**I have recently realized that other writers on this site use line breaks to end their notes and a line of whatever to change scene. To avoid confusion i will begin to use this technique. Sorry about the changes, i hope they haven't been too confusing. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Normandy SR-2 Retrofit

Shepard sat at his console; six months had passed since he handed the Normandy over to the Alliance. He checked his mail, still nothing. He was surprised at the lack of mail he had received. He had only received one from Tali. Even then large amounts had been filtered out. He shut down the computer and looked out the window. They didn't have much time left before the Reapers would arrive and annihilate all life in the galaxy. He looked down and saw a child playing in his garden. Shepard chuckled and smiled. The door suddenly opened.

"Commander" said James as he saluted "Admiral Anderson wishes to see you"

"Not supposed to call me that anymore James"

James nodded and stood by the door. Shepard stepped out and shook hands with Anderson.

"Anderson, how've you been" Shepard asked Anderson

"Fine, what about you? You look a little soft around the edges"

"Well it's not so bad when you get used to the hot food and soft beds" Shepard remarked, he looked at the people bustling past "why is everyone in such a hurry?"

Anderson sighed "something came up on the long range scanners, something massive"

"The Reapers?"

"Maybe, that's why the committee wants to speak with you"

Shepard and Anderson followed closely by James moved through the hallways, gliding in between officers and recruits as they scurried to their assigned tasks. There were so many people around them that Shepard soon found himself lost and had to resort to the signs suspended from the roof.

After a few more minutes they finally left the sea of people and walked into the boardroom foyer. Shepard glanced across the room and saw the one person he dreaded to see again.

Ashley looked back at him and drew a blank face. Shepard broke eye contact but then he noticed Anderson was walking towards her.

"Lieutenant Commander Williams" Anderson warmly as he greeted Ashley

"Admiral" she responded

Shepard took a moment to think "wait… Lieutenant Commander?"

"Yep, got promoted a few months ago" Ashley replied, overly cheerful

"Well, congratulations, I hadn't heard. I'm kinda out of the loop these days"

"Sorry Commander, didn't mean to keep you out of loop"

"Shepard, let's go" Anderson said as he motioned for Shepard to follow

Shepard quickly followed Anderson, wanting to get away from Ashley and avoid an incident.

"You know the Commander?" James asked Ashley

"Yeah… well, at least I did"

Shepard and Anderson stood in the centre of the boardroom, facing the committee representatives, a giant ornate window behind them, the sunlight streamed in.

"Commander Shepard" said one of the members "You are have been accused of treason, harbouring fugitives and mass murder. This board has found enough evidence to convict you as guilty"

Shepard frowned and dropped his head; he knew this moment would come. There was so much evidence against him; there was no way he could get away with innocence.

"However"

Shepard looked up again.

"In light of recent events, we find you… not guilty. As long as you comply and tell us all you know about the Reapers"

Shepard's eyes widened in shock, he looked towards Anderson who had drawn a smug grin. Anderson held his gaze forward. Shepard looked back at the committee representatives and attempted to find his words.

"Will you comply?" asked one of the representatives

"Yes Sir" Shepard stated

"Very well then" a Reaper hologram appeared in front of Shepard "tell us"

"Oh… well, as to the best of my knowledge the Reapers are an ancient race of synthetics obsessed with wiping out all life in the galaxy every 50,000 years" Shepard blurted, he hadn't been prepared for this

"What is the purpose?"

"How do you mean?"

"Of wiping out life"

"We… don't know"

"And what about weak points… places where they are vulnerable"

"I… don't know" Shepard sighed

"But you destroyed one didn't you? Sovereign"

"With the help of the entire fifth fleet! And that was only one Reaper"

The committee members talked amongst themselves, frowning.

"A few hours ago the long range scanners picked up something massive headed towards Earth"

"The Reapers" Shepard said, frowning

"Judging by the evidence it would… it would seem so"

An officer ran into the room "Sir, we just lost contact with Luna base" she handed a data-pad to Anderson.

"The moon… they can't be that close already" he said

"UK headquarters has a visual" said the officer, a large hologram appeared opposite from the large window

The video was mostly static but Shepard was able to make out explosions, gunfire and the uniquely terrifying roar of a Reaper. The video cut out and went to a news feed. A large object gently landed in the middle of a city, followed by another one, and another. Shepard identified the shapes immediately, Reapers.

"My… god" gasped a representative

"You let me go so I could confirm what you already know!" Shepard yelled "The Reapers… are here"

A roar was heard from outside, Shepard, Anderson and the Committee looked out the window. Five large tentacle like structures pierced the clouds.

"Move!" Shepard yelled

A massive red energy beam surged towards them, blowing out the window and sending the table where the committee members were seated, flying. Shepard ducked under it as it flew over him, he looked back to see another energy beam, the explosion sent him flying.

Shepard looked around, his ears ringing and his vision blurry.

"Shepard!" he heard someone yell "Shepard!"

Shepard sat up and shook his head attempting to clear his vision.

"Anderson?" he slurred

"Shepard! I'm here" Anderson yelled out

Shepard stood up and Anderson ran over to him.

"You ok?" he asked

"Yea…" Shepard said as he wiped a trickle of blood from his cheek

"C'mon, we have to get to the Normandy" Anderson said "Take this"

He handed Shepard a pistol.

"Where is the Normandy going to meet us?" Shepard asked as he and Anderson jumped out the broken window onto a ledge.

"Somewhere down by the water" he replied

"Long way down" Shepard looked down; the streets below were a chaos of civilians fleeing from the encroaching Reaper forces.

After they climbed down part of the way they encountered Husks climbing up the building.

"Take them out" Anderson yelled and he began firing at them

The Husks dropped like flies, unable to defend themselves whilst gripped to the wall.

"If only it was this easy to take out the big ones" Shepard said, nodding his head towards a Reaper that was making a trail of destruction through the city. Anderson laughed in response.

A while later Anderson lost contact with the Normandy. Anderson spotted a few soldiers near the ground and he and Shepard jumped down to meet them.

"Do you have a radio?" Anderson asked them

"In the shuttle, we were taken out by one of those flying things" an injured soldier replied

"Stay safe" Shepard said as he jumped across a pile of wreckage, he made his way to the crashed shuttle but as he neared it he heard something odd.

He saw the face of a Batarian amongst the wreck, when he tried to free it, the Batarian jumped at him. Shepard yelled and tried to shoot the Batarian Husk but his pistol overheated. He heard a shot and the Husk fell dead.

"You ok?" Asked Anderson as he ran over to Shepard

"Yea… I'm fine" he replied

"There are more coming, look" Anderson yelled then pointed to a heap of metal, more were piling over it "I'll hold them off, you look for the radio"

Shepard nodded and began searching the wreck, he found two dead bodies and one fatally wounded. After a few more minutes he found the radio, he sent his co-ordinates to the Normandy then joined Anderson.

During the fight Shepard noticed the Batarian Husks eating the remains of one another, and then growing armour plating.

"Cannibals" he muttered

Shepard heard a roar and the Normandy sailed over head, releasing a payload on top of the remaining Reaper foot-soldiers. Shepard admired the Normandys new blue Alliance paint. As the Normandy dropped its cargo ramp, Shepard jumped aboard; he looked beside him, expecting to see Anderson. Shepard looked back and Anderson was standing by the wrecked shuttle still.

"Anderson! C'mon let's go!" he yelled

"I'm not coming with you"

"What?"

"You saw those soldiers back there, there's a million more like them and they need a leader"

"If you're staying then I'm staying too"

"No! You're needed elsewhere, go to the Citadel, and rally the other races! We can't win this on our own"

"You can't tell me what to do; I'm not a soldier anymore!" Shepard yelled, remembering bring stripped of his rank.

"Then consider yourself reinstated" Anderson yelled back, he took a pair of dog tags out of his pocket and tossed them to Shepard "Commander"

Shepard nodded and placed the tags around his neck "I'll be back for you"

The Normandy began to take-off and Shepard watched as Anderson ran off into the city. Shepard glanced around at the destruction, he saw a small boy running in the streets, and the boy stopped and looked up at Shepard. Shepard looked up and saw a Reaper heading straight towards the boy.

"No, stop, we have to help him!" Shepard yelled but his words were heard by no one

Shepard flinched as the giant claw like foot, fell upon the boy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry i haven't uploaded any in while, i had to reply the game to remember what happens but i had lent it to a friend. Made this chapter extra long for you guys!**

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Many months later…

Tali read over the latest reports, Citadel attacked by Cerberus, Udina attacked council, council saved by Commander Shepard. Tali breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in her chair. Shepard was still alive, she had first found out about Shepards reinstatement through a young Quarian called back from pilgrimage, she had said that she saw him on the Citadel. Tali stood up and walked to her cabin window, she looked upon the large star that her ship was orbiting. She heard her door open.

"Auntie Raan" she said as she turned

"Tali, the other Admirals and I were discussing something…"

"Are you going to revoke my admiralty?" Tali cut in, she was only a few months into the job and she already hated it

"No… we have elected to contact the Alliance to help us with the war with the Geth"

"Something we never should've started, especially now. We should be helping Shepard forge alliances with the other races!" Tali cut in again

"Shepard is the one we contacted"

Tali felt her heart skip a few beats "He's coming…?" she muttered in disbelief

Raan nodded "I know about your relationship with him, and so do the other Admirals"

"What? How?"

"You really think the amount of emails you sent out wasn't suspicious"

"You read my mail!?" Tali was getting angry

"We did, and we know he hasn't messaged back"

"He's been… busy…. Really busy" Tali refused to believe that Shepard had abandoned her

"As we know, and because of your relationship we have decided not to allow you to see him"

"Why?"

"We suspect your feelings may get in the way of the wellbeing of the fleet"

"You can try and stop me but I will find a way. No matter what you do"

"Which is why I, off the record have decided to help you"

Tali was confused "What"

"The other Admirals don't want you seeing him. I however will help you"

"Auntie Raan…" Tali threw her arms around her adopted aunt "Thank you… you don't know how much that means to me"

"I'll try and talk with the others and see if I can change their minds" Raan said as she turned and left Talis cabin

After the door closed Tali threw herself onto her bunk and cried out with delight. She could hardly believe that she would see Shepard again, or so she hoped. She thought about a plan to sneak aboard the Normandy without the Admirals knowing. She summoned Chatika and put the drone to work, planning. After several hours Tali deleted all of the plans, she had realised she had gone too far. Many of her plans revolved around chance or blowing a hole in the ship. Tali lay back and attempted sleep, after three more hours she gave up and quickly paced her cabin. She stopped mid-step, she didn't even know when the Normandy would arrive. She went to wake Raan but decided against it, she turned on her personal console and searched up 'Normandy' in the ships records. It was scheduled to arrive within the next stellar day.

Tali didn't sleep that night; all she did was think about Shepard. Remembering the times they spent in those few, short months after defeating the collectors. She thought about the fun times they had with the crew. Tali remembered receiving an email from Garrus saying that he was back on the Normandy and that Shepard really misses her. That was the only thing she had received from any of the Normandy crew, and the most direct communication she had with Shepard.

Talis eyes were heavy as she stalked the hallways of her ship. There were few crew members on board as most Quarians were locked down in the home-system being relentlessly slaughtered by the Geth armada. Tali had already talked with Raan about seeing Shepard, the other admirals were unmoved and Tali was confined to the ship. It didn't matter, Tali had already plotted a course through the ships vents that would lead her into the airlock where the Normandy would dock.

A few hours later Tali watched as the Normandy, now emblazoned with Alliance colours, gracefully glided into its approach. Tali felt the little jolt that told her it had docked and she set about her plan.

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Shepard stood in the war-room, wearing his official uniform. He watched the door and tapped on his keyboard anxiously. He hated these meetings, one wrong word could plunge them into another war. From the reports he had the Quarians had already started another war with the Geth, they wouldn't be able to fight the Alliance as well. Shepard saw the door open and five Quarians walked in and stood around the centre table/holo-map.

"Welcome aboard" Shepard said rather gruffly

"Commander Shepard" said a Quarian he remembered as Admiral Daro'Xen

"What do you need the Normandys assistance with" Shepard droned, he had lost a lot of sleep and wanted to get to the point

Han'Gerrel stepped forward and tapped something into his Omni-tool "As you may know, the fleet has initiated the war with the Geth"

"Which goes against the agreement with the council to avoid provoking the Geth!" Cut in Zaal'Koris

The other Admirals ignored him.

"With precision strikes on three Geth systems, we have driven the Geth back to the home-system" continued Gerrel

"We were winning until…" Xen said "this signal began broadcasting to all Geth units"

A signal analyses popped up in front of Shepard "The Reapers" he growled

"With Reaper upgrades the Geth are slaughtering the fleet, we have traced the signal to this dreadnaught" Gerrel said and pointed to a holo of a Geth ship

"So you want me to sneak aboard and disable the signal" said Shepard

"Precisely" Xen concluded

"And once it's down you get to the Mass Relay and retreat"

The Admirals nodded

"Admirals, I'll ready a team to hit that dreadnaught"

Shepard went over to Admiral Raan as the others were leaving.

"Is Tali ok?" he asked her

"Safer than you think, If you don't mind, I would like to be stationed here. It will be easier to command the fleet"

"Of course, pick a station"

Shepard left the war-room and headed for his cabin, he had already had enough of his damn uniform. He took the elevator and rubbed his eyes. His sleep was plagued with the image of the small boy on Earth. Shepard did everything he could to avoid sleeping, but Garrus and James kept telling him to sleep. If only they knew. Shepard stood off the elevator and stepped into his cabin.

Shepard jumped as he felt a pair of arms grab hold of him, he grunted and managed to grab his assailant, he tossed her across the room and she landed on the bed with a yelp. Shepard dove for the pistol he now stashed under his desk; he stood up and pointed it at the person on the bed. He froze.

"Tali?" his voice was barely a whisper

Tali stood up and took a step towards Shepard "Shepard"

Shepard dropped the pistol and threw his arms around her, laughing. Tali dug her masked face into his neck and cried out with pure delight.

After several minutes of hugging the pair finally broke apart.

"What are you doing here?" Shepard asked

"I came for you" she replied

"You could've come down to see me"

"The Admirals don't want us seeing each other"

"What? Why?"

"I've been promoted to Admiral, the others think that my relationship with you will compromise my decisions for the fleet"

Shepard didn't know how to respond so he sat down on the bed and pulled Tali on to his lap.

"Doesn't matter" he said "We'll deal with them later, for now let's just enjoy the time we have"

Tali bumped her visor against Shepards forehead, it was how they kissed when the room wasn't sterile "I'd like that" she whispered

"Good, now tell me, what have you been doing?" Shepard asked

"Well, after I returned to the fleet I spent a few months repairing engines, I moved from ship to ship. Just after we declared war on the Geth I was promoted to Admiral. They hadn't filled my father's place on the board and I am an expert on the Geth. It's just a formality though; I'm far too young to be a real admiral. After that I spent my time plotting fleet movements and food stockpiles, that sort of thing" Tali finished her story "What about you?"

"Me? I've done next to nothing but listen to courts argue over whether to court-martial me or slap a medal on my chest for that bull-shit with Cerberus. Not to mention that stunt with the Alpha Relay" yelled Shepard angrily

"And what about after you fled Earth?" Tali asked, calmly

"I'm sure you read the news"

"Yes but I want to hear it from the man himself"

"Cured the Genophage with Wreave and Mordin, and another female Krogan called Urdnot Bakara"

"You met Mordin? How is he?"

Shepard felt his eyes begin to water "Mordin… he" Shepard struggled to say it

"He what?" asked Tali, nervously

"Mordins dead"

Tali gasped, then cried "No… what… he can't"

"Sacrificed himself to cure the Genophage"

Tali pulled herself together, she would mourn later.

"I'm weak" Shepard muttered

"What? No, you're the strongest man in the universe" Tali argued in slight confusion, it wasn't like Shepard to be like this

"Then why couldn't I save Mordin!?" Shepard yelled "Or Thane! Or Ashley!" Shepard stood up, pushing Tali off him, his eyes were watering heavily.

"Thane and Ashley are dead too?"

"Only Thane, Ashley had her face slammed against a shuttle by a goddamn robot, she's recovered though"

Shepard was facing away from Tali, looking at the floor. Tali walked to him and curled her fingers around his hand, then she realised the shaking.

"What's wrong with your hand?" she asked

"I'm scared" Shepard whispered

Tali turned Shepard around and saw that he was crying. Tali threw her arms around him and cried.

"I don't know what to do anymore, Tali. If I can't save two lives, then how am I supposed to save a galaxy?"

Tali felt Shepard sag and he fell to the floor and sat against the wall, tears running down his cheeks. Tali sat down next to him and looked at his left hand. The shaking terrified her. She hadn't even see action yet and already she was terrified. If a few short months could do this to Shepard, she didn't want to imagine what it would do to her.

"Shepard" she said "We have already saved the galaxy twice, we can do it again. And it won't be just you. It will be you, me, Garrus, Liara, Ashley, James, Cortez, Chakwas, Joker, EDI, Trainor, the crew, all of us. And then there's Miranda, Jacob, Grunt, Legion wherever he is, Samara. Everyone who has ever heard the name Shepard will be by your side" she turned his face towards hers "You aren't doing this alone" Tali told him

"You're right, I can't break down now" Shepard said as he stood up

"And if you ever feel like this again, I want you to always remember" Tali said as she unlatched her visor "You're the man I love"

Tali pulled Shepard to her lips, it was their first kiss in months and as usual, it was always better than the last.

"I love you" whispered Shepard

They stood there for hours, locked in each other's arms until they were interrupted by Tali coughing.

"Time to put it back on" Shepard said quietly

Tali nodded as she placed her visor back over her face.

"There's something we need to do" she said

"What's that?" Shepard asked

"Show these Admirals that nothing they say will tear us apart"

"Agreed"

They stepped onto the elevator, hand in hand. Shepard pushed the button for the CIC and prepared himself for whatever would be thrown at him when the Admirals saw Tali and himself together. Shepard nodded to Trainor as they passed. Trainor drew a confused face when she saw them holding hands. Shepard ignored the scanner as he passed into the war-room, Raan turned towards him and chuckled as Tali and Shepard stormed into the QEC communicator room. Shepard told EDI to patch in all the other Admirals. One by one the blue holographic images of the admirals flickered into view.

"Yes Shepard, what do you want" Admiral Xen blurted at him

Shepard tugged on Talis hand and she moved into view of the holo-cam.

"What is she doing there!?" Gerrel yelled

"From what she tells me you tried to keep us apart" Shepard yelled back

"Her relationship with you could compromise the fleets safety" Xen said, calmly

"Actually" Tali said "not knowing if Shepard is safe made me very nervous and… scared. Distracting me from my work"

The Admirals stood there, thinking.

"I promise that our relationship won't compromise anything" Tali continued

"Fine" Koris said, angrily "But we'll only give you one chance"

The images of the Admirals flickered into nothing and Tali and Shepard were left standing there.

"That went better than I thought" said Shepard

"Why didn't you include Raan?" Tali asked

"I knew she would support us"

"Well she was the one that told me you were coming to help us"

Shepard and Tali left the communications room and Shepard gave Tali a quick tour on the retro-fits. Tali was pleased to see Garrus, Liara and Joker, and very surprised to see EDIs new body.

"Shame that more of the old crew hasn't joined us" Tali sighed

"Ashley will join us once she's finished sorting things out on the Citadel"

"Then we can give her a hard time for what she did to you"

"No, I'm over her and what she did. My reaction was childish" Shepard said, flatly

"Really?" Tali asked

"Yeah, Garrus… uuh… he… talked… some sense into me. He can tell you"

Tali laughed "I will, now, is the decontamination unit still in our room?"

"I don't know" Shepard said "Trainor!" he yelled

"Yes Commander" she replied

"Is the decontamination still in my cabin?"

"Yes sir"

"There's your answer" Shepard said to Tali

"Good, now" Tali stood in front of Shepard and pushed herself onto her toes, wrapping her arms around Shepards neck "My bed has been awful cold these past few months. Would the big, strong Commander care to warm it for me?" she said teasingly

"With pleasure"

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Shepard glanced around the darkened cabin, the blue glow from the fish-tank illuminating the area as usual. He tried to get up but the weight on him kept him down. He looked down and saw the snoozing body of Tali, half on him. Shepard chuckled and carefully slid out from underneath her. Shepard showered and dressed and sat by Tali until she woke. Tali sat up and stretched, she looked over at Shepard who was sitting at his desk reading.

"Nice to wake up back here?" he asked her

"There's nothing better" she replied

Shepard smiled and resisted the urge to look as Tali pieced her suit back together. Before Tali put her visor on Shepard gave her a kiss.

"Missed you so much" Tali sighed

"Like going to hell and coming back"

Tali smiled sadly and put her visor on. As she and Shepard stood onto the elevator she grabbed his hand. He smiled at her and pushed the button for the CIC. Tali noticed Shepards hand wasn't trembling anymore.

"Shepard, your hand" she said

"Well isn't that something" he said and gave her a hug

"What caused it anyway?"

"Chakwas said it was just stress"

The elevator doors opened and Tali and Shepard stepped out and headed for the war-room to plan for when they would infiltrate the Geth Dreadnought. Once Tali had briefed Shepard on the Dreadnoughts defences Shepard formulated a plan.

"We'll go through this docking tube then once we've disabled the interior defences we locate the signal source and take it out" Shepard said

"Seems easy enough" Tali said, looking over the Dreadnought schematics

"I'll tell Garrus to meet us in the airlock"

Tali nodded and continued examining the schematics. After Shepard left, Raan walked over to Tali.

"He seems happier now that you're here" she said

"He loves me, and I love him" Tali said, glancing at the door

"Hah, well I hope things work out between you two"

"This is about the only thing I can be grateful for about my father's death"

"He would've hated Shepard"

"Imagine if they had met"

Raan laughed and went back to her station.

"You better get ready, you are about to take out a Geth Dreadnought"

Tali nodded and met Shepard and Garrus outside the airlock.

"Joker, are we in position yet?" Shepard yelled

"Haven't come through the Relay yet" Joker replied

"How much longer?"

"Through the Relay in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… whoa"

The Normandy exited FTL and drifted above a mass of ships, both Geth and Quarian. They were locked on vicious battle and it was clear that the Geth were winning.

"Spirits" Garrus breathed

"Tali, I'm so sorry" Shepard said as they looked over the sea of destruction before them

"The… the Normandys stealth drive will get us to the Dreadnought undetected" Joker said

"Bring us in" Shepard said as he stepped into the airlock, followed by Tali and Garrus

"Shepard" EDIs voice came over the comm "The only accessible docking tube is badly damaged. I recommend that only one of you at a time go across"

"Got it EDI. I'll go first then see if I can locate another docking tube then unlock. Then you two can come across" Shepard said

"Docking" Joker said, followed by a small jolt as the Normandy docked with the Dreadnought

The airlock opened and Shepard stepped outside.

"See you on the other side"

The door closed and Tali and Garrus were left standing together.

"It's good to have you back, Tali" Garrus said

"Thanks, I'm glad you're here as well. How's Shepard been over the past few months?" Tali replied

"Truthfully? Not good. He's been stressed to all hell lately and hasn't been eating or sleeping much"

"I noticed this morning, he went straight to the war-room instead of eating anything"

"He does seem happier now that you're here though"

"Yesterday he… he broke down right in front of me" Tali said sadly

"What? What do mean"

"He just collapsed and… cried"

"Shepard? Crying?"

"I know, I'm scared Garrus"

"So am I"

"Mordin, Thane… almost Ashley. How many more before this war ends?" Tali was almost crying

"I don't know. The worst part about war, is knowing that no matter how hard you try, you can't save them all"

"Speaking of Ashley, how did you manage to get Shepard over her?" said Tali, trying to change the subject

"Hah, funny story. Just after Shepard picked me up on Menae, he was telling me about what happened to Ashley. After he finished he kept going on about how it was less than she deserved for what she did. After a while a got sick of it and punched him in the face, told him he was being a damn 4 year old and he agreed, he got over her pretty damn quick after that"

"No wonder why he didn't tell me in person"

"But" Garrus continued "That doesn't mean we're not going to have a talk to her when she comes back aboard"

"Agreed"

"Okay, I'm over" said Shepard over the comm

"Now look for a control console and see if you can open another tube" Tali replied

"Tali?" Garrus asked

"Hmm" Tali replied

"Did you notice Shepard's left hand yesterday?"

"Yes" Tali said sadly

"Did you notice it again today?"

"Shepard pointed it out"

"Your presence may be what saves this galaxy. I'm sure that without your support Shepard would just break" said Garrus

"I just hope I can help him"

"So do I"

"Okay, found a console. Docking tube number 7" Shepard said over the comm

Tali and Garrus felt the Normandy glide over to the other side of the Dreadnought and the gentle thud that told them they had docked. The airlock opened and Tali and Garrus stepped into the tube, the zero gravity disoriented them for a few seconds until they got their bearings, their mag-boots kept them secured to the tube. As they walked down the tube Tali looked out of a small hole that had been blasted in the tube. She gasped at the brown and blue planet below her, Rannoch. At that moment she vowed that someday she would watch a sunset from its surface.

"Tali, c'mon we've got to keep moving" Garrus said

Tali tore herself away and caught up to Garrus, as they neared the end the door opened and Shepard stood just passed the door way, he waved to them.

"Thanks for having me over" Tali said as she entered the Dreadnought

"Well I don't actually know where I'm going" Shepard replied

"I'll see what I can do, while you wait, have a look at this" Tali said as she unhooked a pistol from her belt and tossed it to Shepard

"Very nice" Shepard said as he looked over the pistol

"Can I have one?" Garrus asked

"Don't have an extra, sorry" Tali said as she hacked a door

"Damn, could've done a lot of damage with one of those"

"Here" Shepard said and tossed Garrus the pistol "I'll just use my predator. Maybe I'll die along the way"

Tali winced at the comment "Don't say that"

"Oh… sorry" Shepard said, feeling guilty

He knew how much his previous death had affected Tali and that she could be sent into a nervous wreck if it was talked about.

"Let's just move on" Tali said as she completed her hack

Shepard nodded and led the team through the eerie corridors of the Dreadnought. After several minutes of silence they heard heavy footsteps.

"Take cover" Shepard whispered and ducked behind a console

A Geth Prime walked past them followed by a small squad of Geth Infiltrators. Once they had past, Shepard motioned for the squad to move forward again.

"Ok Tali, now which way" Shepard asked

"Down the corridor to the right"

Shepard nodded and slowly pushed forward again, once at the end of the corridor, Shepard opened the door, expecting fire he dashed in, a few quick shots disabling the nearest Geth. Tali and Garrus had taken cover by the door and were poking their weapons around the corner, randomly firing into the room. Shepard was hidden by a console and decided to try and flank the Geth, turning one corner he continued the length of the room. He saw the air shimmer and stopped; he pulled out his M-22 Eviscerator shotgun and squinted. Attempting to see the cloaked Geth Infiltrator, he saw the air shimmer again and immediately let off a few rounds, one of them caught the Geth, taking down its shields and disabling its cloak. Shepard activated his Omni-blade and thrust it into the Geths torso, after a few stutters the Geth fell. Shepard continued to flank the Geth, which were still somehow unaware of his location. After he was behind them, Shepard pulled out his revenant and panned bullets across the room, quickly dispatching the Geth. Tali and Garrus emerged from their hiding places and the squad regrouped.

"Tali, can you take down the signal?" Shepard asked

"Not from here, we'll have to take it out from the source, which is coming from the drive core" Tali said as she tapped away at a console, bringing up a hologram of the Dreadnought.

"Then let's go" Shepard said

"We can't, the Geth have locked down the ship. I can't hack the doors open and all high priority commands have been overridden. We'll need something simple, a ship wide emergency, like a fire. I think I can replicate the fire detection signal… and there" Tali said

The surrounding doors opened and Tali jogged through one of them.

"This way" she called out

"Good to have our master hacker back" Garrus said

"It's good to back on the Normandy" Tali replied as they stepped onto an elevator

"Let me know if it's too quiet for you to sleep and I'll find you someplace louder" Shepard joked

"Oh… It was plenty loud enough last night" Tali replied teasingly

Garrus cleared his throat "Hey, get a Dreadnought you two" he joked

Tali and Shepard laughed, it was quickly interrupted by a missile fired from a platform near the elevator, the elevator stopped then dropped a short distance, Garrus and Tali jumped through an open doorway but Shepard had lost his footing.

"Shepard!" Tali screamed and reached for him

Shepard stood up and jumped for Talis open hand, he grabbed it as the elevator dropped. Garrus helped Tali pull Shepard up and once Shepard was back on his feet Tali immediately embraced him.

"I thought I'd lost you" she said worriedly

"What me? Never" Shepard said and returned the hug

"Hate to break up your moment but we really should move" Garrus said

Tali and Shepard nodded and continued through the ship, they didn't encounter any Geth. Eventually they made it to the drive core.

"Ok" said Tali, approaching the command console "I'll lift the protective plating then we can disable the signal"

The cores armour began to retract.

"Oh… Keelah"

A Geth was suspended below the drive core.

"Shepard Commander! Help us!"

"Legion!?" Shepard yelled

"Affirmative" said Legion, in its monotonous voice

"What are you doing here?" Shepard asked

"The old machines are using this platform to broadcast their signal to all Geth"

"So if we unplug you from the core it will stop the broadcast?" Garrus called up

"Affirmative, we are restrained via hardware blocks. Release controls are on the far side of the room" Legion said, tilting its head towards the opposite wall

"That easy?" Shepard said as he released Legion

"The old machines protected us from viral attack, not physical removal" Legion said as it walked towards the squad

Shepard handed it a gun.

"Lead the way out of here" he said

Legion nodded "As an act of co-operation we have disabled the ships shields and weapons functions"

The Quarian fleet began to fire upon the Dreadnought.

"What are they doing" Tali yelled as the ship shook "We're still on board, the Bosh'tets"

"Legion, where are the escape pods?" Shepard asked

"Geth are software and can transfer themselves to other servers, we have no need for escape pods. There is a fighter hangar that we can acquire our escape"

"Let's go then"

The squad ran through the rapidly disintegrating ship, dispatching of Geth resistance in their path. Once at the hangar Legion took the pilot seat while Shepard, Tali and Garrus had to make do with the small storage space.

"Does the storage compartment have adequate room, Shepard Commander?" Legion asked

"We're fine, just go!" Shepard yelled back as a fiery explosion rocked the fighter

The fighter sped away as the Dreadnought broke up behind them.

"Joker" Shepard called into his comm "We're in a Geth fighter, come pick us up, transferring rendezvous co-ordinates now"

"Received" replied Joker "Wiggle the wings so I know which one is you"


End file.
